


Paris Rain and Busy Days

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adulthood, F/M, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, Miraculous Ladybug - Freeform, Mostly Fluff, Romance, adrienette - Freeform, ladrien, miraculous - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-07-13
Packaged: 2018-05-28 10:25:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6325321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few years have passed since the end of high school, and while Ladybug and Chat Noir are still working together to fight akumas and keep Paris safe, it's been a long while since the heroes have seen each other under their civilian aliases. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is working to create a name for herself in the fashion world, while living with budding journalist Alya. Marinette's world is turned upside down when she sees Adrien again, and when her life is saved by Chat Noir only a few hours later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. So it Begins

**_Crash!_ **

"Marinette?" Alya's rich voice called out for her best friend and current roommate, who was currently in the middle of climbing (or more so, falling) through the window of her bedroom from the fire escape. It was a necessity, as Alya was a journalist in every possible way with her pondering questions and never failing grilling of Marinette any time she came home to their shared apartment extremely late (after a midnight battle of yet another akuma). After the first few months of living with Alya, she began to see through the excuses of work and being at Tom and Sabine's house and told Marinette to cut the crap and just tell her where she was sneaking out to. This led to Marinette's use of the fire escape which was luckily right off of her bedroom window. 

But since it seemed Marinette's luck always ran out as soon as she detransformed from Ladybug, of course she had gotten caught on the window and was now sprawled out onto the floor. Her head was ringing from the hit it had taken from her hardwood floor and when she peered upward, Alya was standing over her with a laughing smile on her face. "What, trying your hand at breakdancing?" The redhead questioned, clearly not supposing anything was up. Marinette breathed a small sigh of relief and smiled up at Alya before pulling herself to her feet. She was a bit sore from her night battling the Wizard, a teen boy whose cosplaying heart was crushed when his parents told him he'd never be like the characters in his beloved book series. 

"You guessed it." Marinette replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes before using her actual excuse, "I was actually just about to go to sleep since I have an early morning meeting with my boss but once again, I managed to trip on my way to bed. Sorry to wake you up." She could tell that Alya had been either about to go to sleep or had already been sleeping, her glasses weren't on and instead of her usual dark denim jeans and button-up shirt, she was wearing her over sized sleep shirt and a pair of patterned leggings. 

Alya shrugged, "No big deal, I wasn't even done with my nightly Ladybug news update from tonight anyway." 

Despite yawning, Marinette did her best to look interested, "There was another villain tonight that they had to fight?" She asked innocently. 

"Yeah, kind of a bummer I wasn't out and about. It was so much easier when we were in school, Ladybug and Chat Noir always seemed to show up around the school and its grounds, probably since they were students then, too. Now that I'm sure they're older and actually living real lives, everything is so unpredictable. Do you think they have families now, little Chatbugs running around?" 

Marinette snorted, "As if Ladybug and Chat Noir are together, Alya."

"What makes you so sure, girl? Maybe they're hiding their romance from the world so their adorable little babies can be safe." Marinette wanted to laugh out loud, her and Chat married with children? That would never happen. She was as single as ever, and so was her superhero counterpart. 

Marinette shrugged, "I have enough faith in you as a journalist to know that if Ladybug and Chat Noir have been together romantically for more than six years now, you would have sniffed it out." 

Alya frowned, sitting down beside Marinette on her bed, "Who knows? I still haven't managed to figure out who they are. Maybe it's not that they're that extraordinary at keeping their secrets, it's just that I'm a crappy journalist." 

Marinette wanted to scream in frustration. She hated knowing Alya felt like a failure never being able to figure out the identities of Paris's heroes, when Marinette herself held her answer in her hands--or earrings, more so. "No other journalist has been able to figure it out either, Alya. Chat Noir and Ladybug have been doing this for six years now, of course they're professionals at keeping their identities a secret. Besides, I'm sure you're much closer to figuring it out than any of those other journalists out there." 

"I guess," Alya stood up, stifling a yawn, and kissed the top of her best friend's head, "Thank you for the reassurance, girl. I knew there was a reason I kept you around." 

As she watched her best friend walk out of the room, she allowed herself to lay down finally, letting her stress and body unwind. Tonight was much harder on her than it usually was, thanks to her ten hour work day spent at the European headquarters of Forever 21, where she worked as one of the brand designers. Usually, Marinette was fulfilled with her career, she knew that if she continued working hard, she could eventually make it up the ladder to designing for couture brands. But to her, it felt as though the rest of her life was going to be stuck designing at Forever 21. 

 _**●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

After the ten hours spent staring at her sketches and working hard to create new ones to bring in more customers, but still keep the brand identity, there was nothing Marinette wanted more than to go home and order takeout with Alya. But that's when she saw the one and only Chat Noir flying from rooftop to rooftop through Paris. She groaned, then felt guilty about the dread that filled her body. Marinette loved shedding her civilian skin and becoming Ladybug, flying overhead and keeping Paris safe, but today she wanted to crawl up in a ball and sleep for eternity. 

She knew it was her duty, however, and packed up her things and silently thanked her colleagues for having already left the office for the night. Marinette made her way to the office's restroom and opened up her Agreste purse, a graduation gift from her parents, and out flew Tikki. "Are you okay, Marinette? You look a little tired." 

Marinette sighed, "I am. I know you told me balancing a career and being a superhero was difficult but for some reason, I'm just now realizing how right you always seem to be about everything." 

Tikki giggled, then cuddled Marinette's cheek, "Guess you'll have to start drinking coffee!" She rolled her eyes at her kwami but smiled at her nonetheless. 

"Tikki, transform me!" 

Marinette, now Ladybug, loved and relished in the new found energy that transforming gave her. She flew to the staircase of the office and bolted to the roof, sending herself through the Parisian air after Chat Noir who soared ahead of her. 

She caught up with ease, taking him by surprise as she leap frogged over him, loving the dumbfound expression on his face as he looked up to see Ladybug gazing down at him with a grin on her face. 

"About time, Ladybug. Where have you been?" Chat asked her, though already knowing the answer. Ladybug and Chat Noir were the only people that the other could talk to about the difficulties of balancing being a working adult by day and superhero by night. But ultimately, neither of them knew what the other did for a living (Even if Chat constantly joked with Ladybug that it was obvious with beauty like hers she had to be a model, which resulted in her telling him that he must be a professional pain in her butt, then). Even though they'd been partners for six years, Ladybug would not budge on allowing Chat to know who she really was. She feared that even knowing what the other they did for a living could reveal who they were to each other. What if Chat had told her he was a TV repair man and the next day when Alya called a serviceman for their broken television, a blonde haired and green eyed repairman showed up? She would surely put the pieces together.  

She sighed, "It's been a long day, to say the least, kitty. Now let's finish it off by kicking some akuma butt." 

"That's my girl." Ladybug made no response to Chat's comment, she'd stop replying to his hopeless flirting years ago. She figured that due to the amount of time that had passed, Chat had surely found a girl in his civilian life to be with and just continued his flirting with Ladybug because it seemed like such a huge part of their dynamic. At least she hoped, even though she seemed to be as romantically alone as ever, that didn't mean she wished the same fate onto Chat. He deserved someone good, kind, and brave, and as far as Ladybug knew, he could have had that. What if Alya was right, and Chat had settled down with someone (granted Alya's assumption was that he had settled down with Ladybug and that was far from true) after all these years? After all, Ladybug had no way of knowing for sure that she and Chat were the same age, they never discussed it, only assumed. Twenty-one seemed a bit young to be married, let alone have children. Even if Chat was a couple of years older than her, it still seemed far fetched. 

She shook her head, what had gotten into her? She never focused so much on relationships in her life, or maybe her lack thereof. For the past three years, it's been nothing but her career and being Ladybug, it's all she wanted to think about. Besides, after finally getting over her teenage crush on Adrien Agreste (partially thanks to having not seen him since graduation from high school, unless you counted on billboards), she hadn't really found anyone she was interested in like that. 

Ladybug did her best to clear her head of the thoughts, and pulled out her yo-yo, Chat following after her. She headed towards the colorful sparks that lit up the surrounding area of the Eiffel tower. The evil, menacing laughter made it clear to the both of them that it was yet another akuma sent forth by Hawkmoth. As they got closer, she could finally see the source of the sparks. He wore a dark blue pointed hat, with matching cloaks, dressed almost like-- 

"I am the Wizard! I see you, Ladybug and Chat Noir, and I will be sure to retrieve your miraculous stones before you leave here today!" Sparks flew from a wand in his slim hands, shooting towards the two superheros. They both flipped out of the way, working together to distract the young akumatized boy. Chat danced around him like an acrobat, using his baton to fight off the spells that were blasted towards him from the wand. But as Chat looked over to look at Ladybug, who was darting over to join the fight, he was caught off guard and a glowing blue cage folded around him. Chat groaned, "You've got to be kidding me." 

Ladybug looked at him, of course knowing what he was going to do, but checking to make sure her partner had it under control. It was clear he knew what she meant, even if she had only exchanged a knowing glance. Six years as partners made them incredibly and almost ridiculously in sync with each other.  

He nodded, before shouting, "Cataclysm!" The bars around him dissolved into blue sparks on the floor and Chat grinned, the Wizard turned his stare from Ladybug to Chat. He groaned, stomping his foot down.

"You stupid cat!" Before the Wizard could do another move, Ladybug was already sent into action. 

Her voice cried out, "Lucky Charm!" From the air came a toy gun that shot foam bullets. Ladybug glanced around, piecing together what she could possibly do and then knew immediately upon seeing the Wizard's grip on his wand. Surely, that was where the akuma rested. 

She took careful aim, before shooting a foam bullet toward the Wizard, watching it hit the wand and popping out of his grip. It luckily flew towards Chat Noir who knowingly kicked it back to Ladybug. She grabbed it swiftly, cracking it over her knee and watching the dark butterfly appear. "You've done enough harm, little akuma. I'm freeing you from evil!" Her yo-yo grabbed the akuma and seconds later, it popped out looking like a regular butterfly. "Bye bye, little butterfly." She threw the toy gun into the air then, willing everything to be back to what it was before the Wizard had been akumatized, "Miraculous Ladybug!" 

Chat took his place beside her and watched as the Wizard transformed back into his true self, a young dark-haired boy wearing a t-shirt with the title of a popular book series on it. "Well done, m'lady." His smooth voice crooned, putting his arm around her and smiling. She felt herself relax, the stress from the day evaporating as she looked up at her partner, and friend, and remembered that this was what she was meant to do. Save Paris.  

"Thanks, Chat." She started to open her mouth, to speak further about what she had been thinking of earlier. About how she knew so little about her partner of six years, but the beep of his miraculous made her remember why she knew so little. They were superheros, alter egos worn by two regular people that no one could ever know about. She sighed, "Guess you'd better go."  

He seemed to sense her hesitance and the look in his eyes made it clear that though he was curious, he wouldn't press for information. She supposed that all their years together knew that she didn't respond well to being pushed for answers. "Yeah, I guess so. Seeya next time, whenever it may be." He leaned and grabbed her hand, pressing his hand to it gently before flying across Paris's skyline. She watched him until his dark form and golden hair disappeared. 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

_**Beep! Beep! Beep!** _

Adrien woke up the next morning with a start, it was clear his alarm had been going off for quite sometime, as it got louder the longer the owner let it ring. He groaned, picking up his phone and looking at the time. _8:15._ He nearly jumped out of bed, not realizing how long he had let his alarm go off. Fifteen minutes ago, he was supposed to be meeting the current CEO of Chanel, who was going to be deciding on whether Adrien would be the new brand ambassador of the label.  

He ran his hands through his hair and pulled on a crisp white long sleeved shirt, along with the first pair of jeans he could find. Luckily, he had showered after the akuma attack last night and didn't have to worry about that as well. After sliding into a pair of shoes, Adrien was running down the stairs of his apartment building and onto the streets of Paris. He lived about two blocks from the Eiffel Tower, which was where he was meeting with Alain Wertheimer. 

Within five minutes, Adrien arrived at the small cafe in which the meeting had been arranged by his assistant. He scanned the room and silently thanked every god imaginable. He had beat Alain to the shop. Adrien took a seat at a table towards the front of the building, ordering tea, before immediately spotting Alain walking in. "Oh, Adrien, forgive me for being late! Of course, it just so happens that you were just on time. I hate to have kept you waiting, but I guess it goes to show how committed you are to getting this job!" 

Adrien smiled and nodded, "Of course, sir." 

The two started off into a flurry of conversation about Adrien's father's business and all of the other happenings of Paris fashion. Adrien did his best to keep his mind on the topics at hand, but it kept slipping to the one he had last night with Ladybug. Or more, the lack of conversation that they had thanks to his miraculous beeping. She seemed as though she would finally break down the wall around her emotions that she kept so strongly held, and had for the past six years. 

Alain looked at his watch and back at Adrien, "Well, I'm afraid I have to go. But you, Adrien Agreste, are the new ambassador for Chanel's men line. I'll have my assistants send you all of the information. I look forward to working with you again, once again I am so sorry about being late." 

Adrien's eyes widened, not expecting to be offered the job at the meeting, "Oh my--thank you so much, sir! And don't worry about it, you giving me the job has made it up to me a million times over!"  

As the CEO walked away, towards the tower, Adrien leaned back in his seat.  _Look at me now, Dad._ He chanted over and over in his mind. Four years ago it had been, the day that Adrien finally told his father that he didn't want to pursue modeling anymore. He wanted to go to university like what the rest of his friends from school had been doing since graduation. His father scoffed and told him that modeling was in Adrien's blood, fashion was in Adrien's blood. It was stupid of him to push it away, when he was already becoming one of the most famous male models in Paris. 

So Adrien did the next best thing, and told his father he would continue to model, but model no longer for Gabriel Agreste's lines. His father was baffled, but silently watched as his son stormed out. He was even more baffled when Adrien had called Nathalie only a few weeks later so she'd relay the message that Adrien had booked three runway shows for Paris Fashion Week. 

He was sure that his father was extremely angry at him, and there was nothing he wanted more. Over the years, his father warmed slightly to him, only to squash any rumors in the fashion world that the famous father-son duo had a falling out. But really, there wasn't much of a falling out. So, Adrien no longer modeled for his father's brand, it wasn't like they had much of a father-son relationship before that. 

But now, Adrien wanted to call his father to tell him the news. He didn't know if the yearning in his heart was to gloat, or to actually share his accomplishment with someone who understood just how much being a brand ambassador for a label as hugely famous as Chanel was. His closest friend was Nino, who thought exquisite fashion was the five euro t-shirts he bought from thrift shops, so he wouldn't quite get the excitement over this. 

His fingers grazed his cell phone in his pocket, but then thought better of it. Maybe it was better that he didn't hear his father's reaction, in case it was a lack of a reaction. He'd rather live hoping that his father was proud of him, than knowing that his father wasn't. 

Adrien looked around the small cafe and relaxed, he didn't have a shoot until sunset and could afford to spend some time savoring his tea. Amazingly, Adrien had never been to this shop even though it seemed every single meeting he had was somewhere new. The aura was warm and inviting, with twinkling lights hung on the ceiling and mismatched furniture. 

When he looked back up, he saw a flurry of pinks and black swirl past. Adrien's jaw seemed to drop, it couldn't be her, could it? 

Adrien hadn't seen Marinette Dupain-Cheng since high school. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he would have loved to meet back up with Marinette. But every single time Nino had invited Alya and Marinette out to a club so they could all spend time together, either Marinette or Adrien were stuck with work things. After three years of crossed signals, it seemed as though the two pairs of friends had just given up. Alya and Nino would meet up every once in a while to catch up, and Nino and Adrien remained as close as what Alya and Marinette did. But somehow, getting all four of them together at once was too much to ask of the universe.

As far as Adrien knew, Marinette was climbing her way up the fashion ladder, but Nino was never very good at information so he didn't know who she was currently designing for. Adrien had always found himself silently hoping she'd be interning or assisting one of the designer's he was modeling for so he could finally see her again. It was Marinette who he had always been most curious about, with the way she would smile at him as though he were the sun but then never be able to speak a full sentence. It had always made him happy to see someone so happy to see him. But even with his curiosity, reaching out to her seemed daunting as she had never reached out either. Then, too much time passed. It would have been odd to call her three years after they had finished school. 

So when the young woman with dark hair and bluebell eyes received her latte and headed toward the door, Adrien nearly threw himself towards her. "Marinette?" His voice called, waiting for her reaction. She turned after a few seconds, with furrowed eyebrows and pursed pink lips. Adrien took in the sight of her, and oddly enough, wanted to hug her. It had been so long, too long, Adrien knew now. The girl who he had called one of his first friends, the girl who he had given his umbrella to when they had been caught in the rain, the girl who was remarkably kind and had always made Adrien feel wanted. 

Marinette was dressed in a black pencil skirt, legs adorned in pattered sheer tights, with a blush pink sweater. Her hair, which he had grown so used to seeing in two ponytails, was pulled into a messy updo. This Marinette was much different than the one had known so long ago, instead of awkwardness, she shone with self-confidence. She didn't teeter in her stilettos, instead perfectly keeping her balance. She looked so much more mature, and seemed to have taken control of adulthood and made it her bitch. "Adrien!" She exclaimed, a look of surprise yet utter happiness at seeing her former classmate. 

He smiled, a feeling of warmth and happiness setting in around him, "God, it's been forever. You look really good, Marinette." 

Just like that, her coy smile brought him back to the days in the classroom where he would catch her looking at him and she'd give him the same smile as the one she wore now. "T-Thank you. It's, uh, really great to finally see you again. Though, I've known you still look good, you're on practically every billboard in Paris." Her rambling made him want to hug her even more. To Adrien, the familiar sense of one of his first friends was one of the best feelings in the world. 

Adrien laughed softly, "You should sit down with me, we can finally catch up." His offer sat in the open, Marinette biting down on her lip as she peered at her watch. 

"I would love to, I really really would. But I was supposed to be at the office five minutes ago." A giggle escaped her lips, but a look of disappointment shone in her eyes. "But, I do want to meet up again sometime and I'm sure neither of us still has the correct number for each other. So I'll just give you my card, and you can text me a time that works for you to have coffee?" She looked down at his drink, "Or tea." 

He nodded, taking the stiff paper card from her slim fingers. Their hands touched briefly before Adrien looked up to meet her eyes, "That sounds perfect. I can't wait to see you again, Marinette." 

"Y-Yeah, totally. Me too." She righted her purse onto her shoulder and began to head towards the door, "Goodbye, Adrien!" 

 


	2. Late Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien ponders his feelings for Marinette, and the chances that something could actually (finally) happen between them. Meanwhile, his alter ego is busy saving that very girl's life.

Adrien's apartment was empty, per usual. Even the smallest sound produced echoed off of his barren walls and tile floor. The space had always made him feel much older than he was. It was cold, clean, chic, and something that he had never imagined himself owning. The furniture was a matching pristine white and his kitchen was made up of stainless steel appliances and dark granite counter tops. His west wall was almost completely made up of huge, gaping windows that shone with the light of the Paris skyline. That's what kept him from feeling like he was too detached from the world inside his apartment. The glowing lights of the Eiffel Tower, the streets bustling with crowds and music, the very rooftops that he flew across as Chat Noir. 

After his photo shoot for Dior, he had returned home feeling much more tired than usual. The shoot lasted about four hours, which was typical in the world of fashion photography, but he still couldn't shut off his brain which was leaving him much more exhausted. Thoughts buzzed around his head quickly, barely allowing Adrien to focus on one. 

Tonight, his mind was on Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Seeing her today for the first time in so long had awakened so many experiences of his past, memories that had been stored in his mind and hadn't really come out. But tonight, they couldn't rest. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Marinette in his mind. She had looked so different, yet so utterly similar. It was jarring, the girl who he had admired so much as a teenager had grown into what seemed to be a better version of her past self. Though, she did still stutter a bit, which made him giddy in a way he had never really felt before. He had never felt so many different things for Marinette before, probably because when he was a teenager he was too focused on Ladybug to see any other girl as anything more than a friend. 

But it had been six years of flirting with Ladybug and trying to catch her attention. Adrien figured it was safe to assume that she had fallen for someone who was hopefully worthy of her love. Though he would never be able to deny that he would always feel something for the superheroine, it had dimmed dramatically. He could never deny that she was his first love, and would always hold a special spot in his heart now and forever. As the years went by, Adrien grew used to being around Ladybug. He could look at her smiling without getting butterflies in his stomach, he could touch her without a rush of heat flowing through his body. His flirting was now more so just a habit, and he couldn't deny that he loved her witty reactions to his pickup lines. 

Even though he had gotten over his hopeless love for his lady, there had been no other girl in his life. He had been so busy, and if he were going to make time for a girl, he'd prefer it to be someone he actually thought there was a chance with. Nino was constantly trying to get girls' numbers in the club he DJ'd at for Adrien, he'd whip out a picture of his best friend then tell them that he was single. Sometimes it worked, and Nino would come to Adrien's apartment for lunch with crumpled up papers with numbers on them. Adrien never acted on it, as Nino couldn't remember what the girls were like, or even what their names were. 

So the plaguing thoughts of Marinette that couldn't leave his mind were probably thanks to his lack of relationships through the years. Or maybe that wasn't why, Adrien admitted that his past self was extremely blind to Marinette's feelings for him. Sometimes, he wished that he would have figured it out and asked her out. Marinette was beautiful, kind, sweet, and when she had to be, an outspoken badass. Not only that, but she was probably going to be ruling the Paris fashion world in a few years. Adrien could get used to being a trophy husband. 

But he was getting ahead of himself, he hadn't even texted her about meeting up again. The very thought was what caused him to get up from his spot on the couch and begin to search for his phone, "Plagg? Have you seen my phone?"

He followed the mumbled moans from his kwami's mouth, only to find him sitting in the fridge on top of a slice of cheddar. "Wmhat whast thad, Amrien?" Adrien rolled his eyes and closed the fridge door, knowing the kwami could get out when he finished his cheese. 

Adrien continued to look around, before seeing it beside the sink. He must have left it there after he finished cleaning up after his late supper. He made his way to the sink, as the cell began to vibrate. The vibrations caused the phone to move ever so slightly, enough that even with Adrien jumping to try to catch the phone, he couldn't stop the splash that it created in the cold dishwater. "You've got to be kidding me!" He exclaimed, before reaching his hand into the water and seeing the damage done to the phone. 

The screen, which was barely readable thanks to water shorting out some of it, was lit up with a text from Nino. 

_Alya said Marinette was_

That's where the legibility of the screen ended. Adrien groaned in frustration, causing his kwami to pop out of the fridge and sit on Adrien's blonde head. "Well, doesn't that just stink?" Plagg shrugged, "At least you still have your baton to get in contact with Ladybug if you have to." 

Adrien's shoulders sunk, "But that's not who I wanted to get a hold of tonight." 

"Oh yeah, your new girlfriend. I'm sure she'll be okay if you wait a few days to get a hold of her. Not everyone's as desperate as you are, Adrien." Plagg muttered, turning his attention to the crumble of cheese in his hands.  

He scoffed at his kwami's comment, "I am  _not_ desperate. Next time you insult me, please remember who buys you all the precious cheese and puts up with their fridge constantly reeking of camembert." 

Plagg laughed then flew off to sit on the backrest of the couch. Adrien supposed it wasn't the worst situation, in the morning he would go to the nearest electronics shop and pick up a new phone and transfer all of his data from the old one. Plagg was probably right, Marinette probably wasn't even worrying about Adrien texting her. 

So instead of worrying, Adrien called out to Plagg, "I wanna do some patrol for a bit, then we can both call it a day. You just ate double your weight in cheese so you should be good to go." The kwami began to argue but Adrien gave him no time, "Plagg, transform me!" 

  _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●**_  

 "Alya, I'm not going to let myself freak out over this. I gave him my card, he'll text me when he has time to meet up. Besides, it was only this morning! He's probably  busy." Marinette liked to believe that she was no longer the girl who would freak out over the littlest things Adrien did. She'd grown up, she was no longer a teenager. No matter how amazing Adrien looked in the coffee shop this morning, she would try to maintain her cool.  

Marinette looked up at Alya, who was giving her friend a knowing smile, "So you won't even tell me how he looked? What all happened?" 

A small smile and blushed cheeks appeared on Marinette's face as she flew into the story, secretly hoping that Alya would ask her. "He looked so good! Like somehow, he found a way to become even handsomer since high school." Marinette leaned back in her chair and let out a happy sigh, "And he didn't ask me for my number, I just gave it to him! Who even am I? What has happened to me?" 

"Three years of being chased around by every straight guy in the fashion world is what's gotten into you, Mari. All of this training has surely led up to the all holy Adrien Agreste. It's a good thing you saved yourself for him." Alya said, peering at her phone screen and texting quickly, probably to Nino. In the past couple weeks, Alya and Nino had rekindled their old flame and she seemed as though she couldn't be happier with how the situation was going. 

Marinette rolled her eyes, "Shut up. You're not funny, you know." She scoffed, as if to really prove her point, "I was not saving myself for Adrien. All of those guys just weren't...my type. Besides, six years of waiting for the same guy to notice me, you don't find that extremely pathetic?" 

Alya spouted, "No, I do. That's why I was hoping you'd reassure me that you were just content with working on your career and not having a man in your life." 

"Well, that's exactly what I was doing. Besides, I kind of assumed Adrien would have had like twenty model girlfriends by now. He's kind of a perfect human specimen. Which is why, I had disregarded the chance of ever dating him years ago." Marinette replied, trying to peer over Alya's shoulder to see what she was texting Nino. 

_Marinette is so into him. He's single, right?_

Marinette tried to reach for the phone but instead fell out of her chair, "Alya, you cannot send Nino that, he'll tell Adrien!" 

"What's wrong with that? Marinette, it's taken six years for this to happen, we don't need another six to pass because you're afraid of embarrassing yourself in front of Adrien. Which, need I remind you, has happened millions of times already." 

"Millions?" Mari scoffed, "I would say closer to thousands, but thanks." Before she could further protest, Alya sent the text. 

Marinette's attention was pulled from her conversation with Alya as her phone buzzed softly. She reached for it, silently hoping it was Adrien. 

_Where are your fall designs? I told you all to have them on my desk by March 1st. You've got one more hour. I like the dress design you gave me, but I assume that wasn't meant to be for the label. I left it on my desk, switch it out with your fall designs. Please and thanks. -D_

"Shit. You've got to be kidding me, I could have sworn I put those designs on Diana's desk." But sure enough, the fall designs remained in her binder full of sketches and her design for a dress she planned on working on separately were nowhere to be found. 

Marinette groaned, "I'll be back Alya, I have an hour to get my fall designs to Diana's desk or else, I don't even want to know what she'll do." 

Her friend looked up at her, "Do you want me to come with? It's kinda late." 

She shook her head, "I'll be fine, besides I know you have an early morning tomorrow, so you can go to bed." 

Alya nodded, "Just wake me when you're home so I know you're okay." 

Marinette smiled and nodded, luckily she had yet to change from today's outfit and was still dressed in her typical business chic atire, and headed towards the door of the apartment, saving to Alya as she went.

The air of Paris was cool, being it was still a few weeks from spring, and Marinette immediately scolded herself for not bringing her coat. She pulled her scarf closer to her face and hurried along, politely brushing past tourists gazing at the architecture. Marinette and Alya's apartment was only three blocks away from her office which was located on the square of the Eiffel Tower. Her heels clicked quietly against the cool pavement as she quickened her pace, sure that her cheeks were going red from the chill of the wind. 

Fifteen minutes later, she was unlocking the door of the office and pulling her designs out of her binder. She placed them on Diana's desk and searched for her dress designs. Luckily, Diana had left them on top of all the others. To Marinette's surprise, an orange post-it note was stuck to the front. 

_Absolutely gorgeous. Further proof that you're destined for a lot, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Someday I'm sure I'll be seeing a design like this in Vogue._

Marinette's heart swelled with pride as she put the dress design back into her binder, and then the binder into her bag. She made sure to lock the door of the dark office behind her, and then headed back out onto the streets of the city. She pulled out her tablet, which she always carried with her in case inspiration struck, and looked around the square. The lights of the Eiffel Tower twinkled as they did every hour in the evening. It was midnight, Marinette breathed a sigh of relief that her designs had made it in time and took a second to relax. For a whole minute, she gazed up at the lights and then looked down at the dress design on her tablet. She took out her stylus and immediately began to add gold detailing to the burgundy gown. 

She continued to walk along, making her way to a stop walk and pressing the button to trigger the stoplight. She waited patiently for the timer to click down to 0, and began to walk across the road, averting her eyes back to the design. 

That was when a flash of headlights appeared, blinding Marinette. She braced herself for the impact, knowing that it was a car running the stoplight. It hurtled towards her and she did her best to move out of the way, but it was moving too fast. She closed her eyes, clutching her arms around herself and let out a scream--

Then a pair of warm arms wrapped around her and lifted her out of harm's way, into the air above the street. A sigh of relief left her lips, and the tears of fear which had been brewing in her eyes spilled over, so overcome with emotions that she couldn't keep them in. She looked up to see her savior and the flash of golden hair and black mask gave her such comfort that she clung closer to him. "Chat Noir?" Her voice trembled, still shook up from the past happenings. There had been many times that she put her life on the line as Ladybug, but she'd never been so close to such critical harm as Marinette. 

"Are you okay?" His voice came out warm and gentle, even while they flew onto the nearest rooftop. He held her carefully, making sure he took all the impact of the landing on the roof. 

Marinette nodded, relaxing in his arms before it truly clicked just whose arms were wrapped so closely to her body. She backed up ever so slightly, making him do the same with a grin on his face. He stood up, taking her hand and pulling her upwards as well. For the first time in a long time, Marinette saw Chat Noir flustered. She was honestly surprised that he hadn't used a corny pickup line on her. 

"Thank you, thank you so much. If you hadn't seen that car coming, I would be--" 

Chat cut her off, "Let's not dwell on what could have happened. I'm just glad that you're okay, Marinette." Color rose to her cheeks as he spoke her name, of course he knew her as Ladybug but she couldn't describe how it felt to have him remember her civilian form (especially since their last meeting was about as long ago as her meeting with Adrien was). In an existence where being Ladybug was always brought to the forefront and her true self went by unrecognized, having someone remember just Marinette was a beautiful thing. 

Maybe Marinette had always overlooked just how kind Chat Noir was, and how much he meant to her. 


	3. Crossed Wires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir and Marinette spend the night time together until Chat's Miraculous times out. Adrien tells Nino of time he spent with a girl the night before. Marinette hears about this from Alya. Believing she was with Chat Noir, not Adrien, she's disappointed and upset, thinking she read too much into Adrien's actions the morning before. 
> 
> Aka not knowing each other's aliases creates absurd romantic chaos that I live for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I GOT SO CARRIED AWAY IN THE MARICHAT FLUFF I'm sorry (but really I'm not)
> 
> All of these chapters are written listening to any playlist by 8tracks user Vidia. Literally any of the cute lovey dovey ones, I live for them. Anyway, I'll link my favorite ones below for you guys to listen to while reading this fic if you'd like. 
> 
> http://8tracks.com/vidia/today-was-a-fairytale-miraculous  
> http://8tracks.com/vidia/to-adrien  
> http://8tracks.com/vidia/to-marinette  
> http://8tracks.com/vidia/we-might-fall  
> http://8tracks.com/vidia/miraculous-the-musical

"So what were you doing out this late, anyway?" Chat and Marinette were sitting now, still on the rooftop. Marinette ignored how the cold air was causing goosebumps to appear on her arms, wanting to continue to talk to Chat as Marinette, not Ladybug. She had always liked interacting with him as a girl he knew nothing about, not his superhero counterpart. 

She wrapped her arms around herself, before meeting his eyes. It shocked her to see just how bright his green cat-like eyes were, always so curious and playful, yet also so kind and thoughtful. He gazed at her in a way that made her want to look at herself in a mirror, wondering what on earth such an exultant gaze was doing locked on her. "I'm a designer for Forever 21. I kinda put the wrong design on my boss's desk, a design for myself, instead of the fall designs which everyone had to have turned in to her by midnight. So, that's why I had my little excursion." 

Chat smiled, "A little forgetful, are we?" 

Marinette laughed, "A little? You could say that. I would say a 'lottle' however." 

She was caught off guard by how humorous Chat had found the statement, a vibrant laugh came forth from his lips. She found herself smiling at the sight. "You seriously just said a 'lottle'. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you truly are one of a kind." 

A flush of red found Marinette's cheeks, and she was slightly confused at herself. Blushing? Because of Chat Noir? That had never happened before. She immediately changed the subject off of how one of a kind she was, "What were you doing out?" 

Chat shrugged, "Just making sure the streets of Paris stayed safe, and this kinda stuff really helps clear my head. I dunno," He scratched his neck as though he was nervous, "it probably sounds stupid." 

"No, not at all. I completely understand, it feels-" Marinette caught herself before giving away that she too loved to turn to her superhero alias to clear her head, "Er, it must feel great to be able to escape your every day life once in a while." 

He nodded, "Exactly. Though, I can't exactly complain. Today I've managed to run into an absolutely great girl for the first time in a very long time." Chat smiled largely at her and once again, her cheeks flushed. Was he talking about her? Did Chat like her? Well of course, Chat had always liked Ladybug, but Marinette never felt as though Ladybug and Marinette were the same. Metaphorically speaking, that is, she knew that she was both women but sometimes it seemed as though she was someone completely different as Ladybug. But if Chat was talking about her...

Forget it. Had she not just given Adrien Agreste her number that morning? Adrien Agreste, also known as the boy she had been in love with for three years of her life. Yet here she was, thinking of Chat Noir the same way she was thinking of Adrien earlier in the evening. 

Chat must have noticed the lack of words coming to Marinette, and instead spoke for her silence, "What were you designing that you accidentally gave to your boss?" 

Marinette shrugged, "Just a gown, sometimes I kind of play around with ideas. I mean, it's not like I'll ever be invited to an event extravagant enough for me to ever wear it, if I would even make it--" 

"I'd love to see it." He cut her off, his curious eyes meeting hers. 

She reached into her bag and pulled out her tablet, "O-okay." Her thin fingers tapped on the screen quietly, pulling open the design she had been working on when Chat had saved her life. Marinette placed it in his gloved hands and watched his face for any reaction.

Chat's eyebrows raised, obviously impressed as he studied it. "It's beautiful. You've just gotta make sure you never sell it to a designer, no one will be able to pull off such a beautiful gown unless they're as beautiful as you. Which I'd say, is impossible." Marinette felt her face flare up with heat, she wished she could shake herself, why was she reacting this way to classic Chat Noir lines? 

A small voice in the back of her head voiced what she had been trying not to think.  _Because that wasn't a line. He means it._

"Thank you." She took back her tablet and placed it back into her bag, not really knowing what else to say to him. No one had complimented Marinette in such a way before. A breeze whipped through the air and Marinette couldn't help but shiver this time, just as she did so, Chat's miraculous beeped, warning that his kwami was getting too tired to keep up the transformation. 

Chat stood up, pulling Marinette up with him, "I think that's my cue, and besides, you don't need to stay out in the cold just for a tomcat." 

She shook her head, "You're not just any kitty cat, Chat Noir." This time, he was the one who blushed at her words. Marinette stood up on her tiptoes and wrapped her arms around Chat, yet another way to thank him for saving her life earlier. He stiffened with surprise but returned the embrace, his warm arms wrapping around her torso. The heat that came from his body made Marinette want to stay in his embrace forever--or at least until she got to her bed. 

Chat shifted the embrace, until his arm was around her waist. "Hold onto me, I'll get you back onto the ground." Marinette nodded and Chat pulled out his baton and they flew through the air together. When they hit the ground, Marinette found herself feeling slightly disappointed, especially as his miraculous beeped a second time. She knew that he really had to get going. 

But he didn't seem as concerned as she figured he would be, instead taking his time unraveling himself from around her. He met her eyes one more time, before leaning in and kissing her forehead. "I'll see you around, princess." 

"What makes you so sure?" 

His smile lit a fire inside her, warming her slightly, "I'll make sure of it." 

With that, Chat disappeared into the Paris skyline. Marinette found herself waiting, watching him go, before finally turning back to her walk home with a smile that she couldn't seem to wipe off of her face. 

  _ **●   ●   ●** __**●**_  

Adrien returned home feeling the happiest he had felt in a long time. Not only had he started to reconnect with Marinette, he also kept her out of harm's way, kept her alive even. Saving Marinette's life made him feel like he really did matter as Chat Noir, even if it wasn't battling akumas with Ladybug. He unlocked the door of his apartment, nearly bouncing as he walked. Nothing could bring him down today. 

Just as he thought that, Plagg popped out of Adrien's pocket, "Did you hear that?" Adrien listened closely and heard a bang of a cabinet door, "Someone's in your apartment." 

Adrien narrowed his eyes, but figured he ought not transform again. Plagg was exhausted. Hopefully, if a thief was inside Adrien's apartment he could take care of it as just himself. He opened the door slowly, "Hello?" 

He looked around the apartment and saw no one. 

Until Nino popped his head up from behind the sofa, where he was laying down while eating from a box of Adrien's cereal. "Yo, hope you don't mind; you did give me a key after all. Anyway, I was hungry after DJ'ing all night. I figured since it was a Thursday night, you'd be awake." Which prompted Nino even further, "Not only are you awake, you just got home! At 1:30! Dude, what were you doing out? This is not typical Adrien Agreste behavior." 

He wanted to tell his best friend everything that just happened. But of course, he couldn't let him in on the fact that he was Chat Noir. Could he still talk about being with Marinette? 

No. Knowing Nino, he'd then tell Alya what Adrien was up to and Alya would surely tell Marinette, who would know that she was with Chat and not Adrien. So he couldn't even tell his best friend about the amazing night he had with a beautiful girl. "I was just, out, y'know." 

"Yeah right, sure. Come sit beside Uncle Nino." His best friend spouted, a shit grin on his face. 

Adrien scoffed, "I am older than you." 

"Details, details." As Adrien sat down, Nino took a deep breath of Adrien's scent. Thus causing the blonde boy to recoil and stare at his friend like he was mad. Nino looked up at him with excited eyes, "You smell like perfume! And not some grandma perfume, definitely someone our age. Who the hell were you with? I haven't given you anyone's numbers in the past three weeks!" 

No excuses were coming to Adrien's mind for why he smelled like a young woman's perfume, so he figured it'd be honest but extremely vague, "I was with a girl before this, so what?" 

"Dude, who is she?" Nino was dying for information, and Adrien could tell his phone was poised in his hand. He was ready to text Alya at any moment. 

Adrien shrugged, "I ran into on the street and we talked some. She's cool. But I'm not going to be telling you who she is anytime soon, I know you'll just spill it all to Alya. This way, you don't have any good information to give her at all." 

Nino laughed loudly, "Wrong! I'm gonna tell her the Six Year Adrien Love Drought may possibly be coming to an end!" 

"No! Don't tell her, she'll tell Marinette!" Adrien's eyes widened as he knew what he said was true, and he didn't want Marinette thinking that he had another girl in his life. 

"Ah dude, are you serious? Were you planning on dating both girls at once? I'd be so willing to let that happen if the other girl wasn't Mari. You know how much she means to me and Alya, you can't do her like that." Nino shook his head, but it was evident he wasn't too disappointed in his friend. in Nino's mind, he was just being a good friend to Alya and Marinette. He didn't know that Adrien had been talking of Marinette the whole time. 

Adrien replied quickly, "No, you've got it twisted! I wasn't-" 

Nino just laughed at his friend's panic, "Don't worry dude, I'll tell Alya not to tell Marinette. Only if you promise you just choose one girl, okay?" 

"Of course!" What Nino hadn't known was that Adrien had already chosen, he wanted Marinette. He was sure of it. 

Adrien wanted Marinette. 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

"What? You're sure he was with another girl last night?" Marinette's shock flooded through her body. He had seemed so interested in her, so happy to have received her number the day before. Now Alya was telling her that he spent his evening hours with a different girl, and Nino said he seemed completely blissed out. Marinette groaned, shoving her face into her pillow. "Of course, the one time I think I actually have a chance with Adrien Agreste, the one time I actually get my stupid hopes up--" 

Alya shushed Marinette, playing with her undone hair as a way to comfort her best friend. "If it makes you feel any better, Nino told him right then and there that he had to choose. That he wouldn't let Adrien date both you and another girl at the same time." 

"And it's been almost thirty-two hours since I gave him my number! He still hasn't texted asking for a time to meet back up! Alya, he didn't choose me!" Marinette was biting down on her pillow in frustration. She never thought that as an adult she would still have these boy problems. 

Alya pulled on Marinette and brought her into the kitchen, where the light flooding into the window proved that it was already sunset. Marinette sat down at their bar, watching as Alya began to make de-caf coffee for the both of them. She remained silent the whole time, carefully adding the perfect amount whipped cream and caramel into Mari's, while keeping her own plain black. 

"You're being too quiet. Alya, do you think I read too much into Adrien wanting to see me again? Do you think he just wanted to meet back up as friends?" Dread and embarrassment flushed through Marinette, of course she had read too much into it. Hadn't she always done that when it came to Adrien? She felt like such a loser. 

Her best friend shrugged, "I don't really know. I think it was a situation that was easy to read too much into it, I don't think it's your fault necessarily." 

"But you do think I read too much into it." Marinette shrunk into her chair, taking the coffee from Alya and drowning her sorrows in the wonderful drink that Alya had crafted. 

Alya seemed, for once, at a loss for words. She seemed to be torn between comforting Marinette but also being honest with her. "I think one meeting isn't enough to really know what's happening. Especially one meeting after not seeing each other for three years." 

Mari met Alya's eyes and knew that she was right. She had no right to be mad at Adrien for meeting up with another girl, and if he was just looking for rekindling their friendship then that should have been enough for her. 

And did she forget that she too was with another person last night? Though it was impossibly different circumstances, it wasn't as though the girl Adrien was with had just saved his life, or vice versa. Maybe Marinette wasn't even ready to be anything with Adrien in the first place, especially considering how thinking of Chat now sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. 

Marinette knew that bringing her new found feelings for Chat into the discussion was just a way to talk herself out of liking Adrien, for fear of rejection. But that still didn't mean that those feelings weren't real. They were very real. Very real and very confusing. Confusing enough that thinking about the two boys, both Chat and Adrien, made Marinette's head spin. She didn't know if she felt better after her talk with Alya about Adrien, she mostly just felt confused. 

"You're right. I'll cool it on the Adrien front, wait a while until I get back in touch with him, if he even tries to contact me. Just give it enough time that everything's clean and sorted out." She told Alya. 

Alya furrowed her brows, "C'mon, we both know there's nothing ever clean about emotions. That's not at all how it works, boo." 

Marinette sighed, "Well, I can always hope." 


	4. Realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien waits for a text that seems as though it'll never come, so desperate times call for desperate measures. Marinette tries to figure out her feelings for Chat Noir, but he doesn't make it any easier for her. Alya and Nino are extremely confused by their friends' love lives.

"What? Chat Noir saved your freaking life and you're waiting until just now to tell me? Me, your best friend and owner of the freaking Ladyblog, where everyone in Paris gets their information on Ladybug and Chat freaking Noir!" Alya looked as though she wanted to shake sense into Marinette, which frankly, scared the latter quite a bit. 

Marinette put her hands up in defense, "You barely sounded half awake when I told you I was home! I knew you needed sleep and it was late, plus this morning you were gone before I was! I'm sorry but there wasn't really time, and I figured this wasn't something you wanted to hear about over text." 

Alya sighed, "I guess you're right there." She immediately perked up and stared at Marinette in fascination, "Wanna be an inside source for the blog?" 

If Marinette were being honest? Not really. She half wished she hadn't even told Alya about the incident in the first place. Somehow, the night with Chat Noir seemed too special to let anyone else in on. But Alya was her best friend and Marinette knew how much she loved hearing of Paris's superheros. "Not really. I'll tell you about it but I just don't think Chat would want that publicized everywhere, he'd probably feel like I blabbed about it to the first journalist I could find. It just doesn't feel right, I guess." 

"Ugh, you're such an adult sometimes, I swear," Alya groaned. 

Marinette laughed at her friend's reaction, "Says the woman wearing a pantsuit!" 

"I covered the election for mayor today, thank you very much. Had to look a little more professional than I do when reporting for your savior." Alya stuck her tongue out at Marinette. 

Her cheeks flushed, "Do not call him that! Yes, he saved my life. Yes, he's an amazing hero. But it's not like I worship him." 

Alya narrowed her eyes at her friend, "But by the shade of your cheeks, I would say that you do like him. You have always been weirdly protective of him when people would say Ladybug deserves all the credit for their missions. Have you been harboring feelings for Chat Noir?" 

"No! Well, I don't know. Is he attractive? Yes. Did he save my life? Yes. Afterwards, was he impeccably kind and sweet? Yes. But he's just an alias. Underneath that mask, it has to be someone else, y'know? That seems kind of, I don't know, daunting. Not really knowing who you're getting yourself involved with. I mean, it's not like I'm going to get involved with him! I wouldn't even know how to really go about that, throw myself out into traffic again? Hope he'd be there watching?" Marinette was rambling like never before and she wished Alya would just put her out of her misery already. 

Her best friend laughed at the sight of her but then her face grew serious, "Marinette, I'm sure Chat Noir is the same guy with and without the mask. A mask is just that, a mask. It doesn't change someone's heart, or someone's personality. I bet Ladybug is just as kind and brave as her civilian self as she is when in costume. It's taken me a while to really grasp it, but I know that Chat Noir and Ladybug are just people under those masks. Maybe you have to, too." Alya squeezed Marinette's hand before standing up and leaving the kitchen where they had been talking. Her footsteps faded away quietly until she reached her bedroom and closed the door, leaving Marinette with her thoughts. 

But before she could start thinking, a text from an unknown number caused her phone to vibrate in her jacket. 

_Hey Marinette, it's Adrien. Just wondering when you'd wanna meet to catch up._

A tiny groan escaped Marinette's lips as she read the text over and over again. She didn't want to meet up with Adrien anytime soon, as her embarrassment over her newly found high school feelings had yet to end. That, and she was afraid that with the discovery of those feelings so fresh, he would only make them grow bigger until she was back to where she was as a teenager. Back to being the girl who couldn't form entire sentences, stole phones instead of facing situations head on, and nearly drooling anytime Adrien walked into a room. She was a grown woman, one who was climbing up the fashion ladder and making a name for herself. Marinette didn't need to return to her old high school ways. 

But deep in her body when thinking of Adrien's text, she could feel the tiny bubble of happiness. 

Marinette ignored that feeling. If it had taken six years to finally start something with Adrien, if that was even what he wanted, maybe that was a sign that they just were never really meant to be. Her mother had once told her that upon meeting your soulmate, the world shifted and changed. You viewed things differently, nothing would seem quite the same to you. She couldn't deny that long ago, that was exactly what it was like being in love with Adrien. But now? That feeling of seeing the world in a different light seemed to be coming from a different golden haired boy, which scared her even more. 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

It had been a week without a reply from Marinette. Adrien was going crazy. It shocked him how much he yearned to see her again, hear her speak and see the flush of color that flew to her cheeks when he complimented her. He had checked numerous times with Nino and Alya to make sure that the card had Marinette's current cell phone number. 

Needless to say, Nino was confused. 

"It just doesn't make sense. This is the same Marinette who was head over heels in love with you from age fifteen to age eighteen. Why wouldn't she be replying to you? What'd you do, insult her mother or run over her dog?" Adrien's best friend was, yet again, sprawled across his sofa. It was later in the evening and Nino had to be at the club by eleven thirty. 

Adrien groaned, still staring at his phone, "Neither, unfortunately. At least then I would know why she's not replying to me." 

"Maybe she thinks you came on too strong." Nino said, focused on his texts with Alya and not really paying attention. Adrien couldn't blame him. They've been having the same conversation for the past five days. 

The blonde threw his arms up in the air in exasperation, "She's the one who gave me her number so we could see each other again!" 

"But you're the one who wanted her to skip work to drink coffee with you, which is a little creepy, dude." Nino had never really proven to be the King of Sympathy, and this kind of comment was nothing new. 

Adrien glared at him, "I wasn't aware she had to get to work. God, I'm not that weird. Do you think she gave me her number out of pity?" 

Nino chuckled, "Yeah, right. You obviously don't know Marinette anymore. Alya told me after the years Marinette has spent turning down and staying away from all the designers and models that go after her, she does nothing out of pity anymore." 

"How many designers and models has she dated?" A queasy feeling churned Adrien's stomach. Maybe he was yet another carbon copy of all the men Marinette had been turning down for the past three years. 

"None? Alya said Marinette's never really looked twice at any of them, just kind of swatted them away. If anything, they were more so just annoyances for her to deal with while trying to focus on her career," Nino spouted. 

Adrien looked up at Nino, "Do you think it's because I'm a model?" 

"Good lord, you are a freaking mess, son. It's not because you're a model. Were you not a model six years ago when she was in love with you?" Nino made a good point, but Adrien was still puzzled as to what on earth was keeping Marinette from getting back to him. A buzz came from Nino's phone and he stood up abruptly, "I gotta go to the club a little earlier. But look, Adrien, I'm sure the only thing keeping Marinette from getting back with you is the fact that she's a busy woman. You can't really blame her for not wanting to drop everything for you, can you? I'm sure she's got shit to get done." Yet again, Nino seemed to know what he was talking about. "Please, just stop freaking out over nothing, bro. I'll see you tomorrow." 

Nino hadn't given Adrien the chance to protest his statements, leaving the apartment as soon as he finished his statement. Which left Adrien, alone yet again with his thoughts. He stared out at the Parisian skyline, as the Eiffel Tower began to twinkle. It was eleven o'clock. 

Maybe Marinette didn't have time for Adrien, but he was sure she'd make time for the hero who had saved her life. 

Adrien didn't give himself time to really think it through, he was sure that later on he would realize that this was a potentially bad decision. But now? Now, he wanted so badly to see Marinette again that he would do anything, or be anyone, for it to happen. 

So, without a second thought, he reached into his shirt pocket and prompted Plagg. "Transform me!" 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

Chat Noir flew through the air silently and almost completely out of sight. He stayed away from the heavily lit areas, as he wanted to get to Marinette's as quickly as possible. He was just glad that Nino had once made him drop something off for Alya at the girls' shared apartment so he knew where to find Marinette. He was also glad that Nino had invited Alya to come watch him DJ at the club tonight, so Marinette was home by herself, without Alya to be there sniffing out Chat Noir. 

He made it to the apartment building in almost no time. He perched himself on the neighboring building's rooftop and gazed at the row of windows. Several were lit up, but many of the blinds were closed, keeping the people on the streets from being able to see in. But one window gave sight into a blush bedroom where a beautiful dark haired girl sat at her desk. 

His heartbeat had already began to quicken and he hadn't even moved from his spot on the rooftop. Chat took a few deep breaths, still not allowing him to really think the situation through, before launching himself onto the rooftop of Marinette's apartment building. He easily dropped down onto the top flight of the fire escape and made his way down, until reaching Marinette's window which was a few stories from the penthouse. 

Chat found himself waiting, watching as she gazed at her sketchbook. She seemed so at peace, her hair was loose across her shoulders and she was in a heather grey over sized shirt which acted more like a dress, her pajamas, he guessed. Marinette leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, relaxing her body in the desk chair and running her hands through her hair which seemed to be wet. With her face clean of the makeup Chat had met her with the previous two times, she seemed much more like the girl he used to know as a teenager. 

He almost didn't want to disturb her, she seemed so extremely calm and relaxed. But that was when it began to rain. Chat smiled at first, remembering the time that he and Marinette had been caught out in the rain together. His very first day of public schooling which changed his life so drastically. However, then, he began to shiver and grow drenched with the water. He knocked quietly on the window, hoping not to scare her. 

Marinette looked up slowly and met his eyes, a look of surprise on her face. She quickly threw the window upwards, and before Chat knew it, she was grabbing his hand and yanking him into the bedroom. "You stupid kitty, you're going to be sick." 

"Well hello to you too, princess." He crooned, watching as she hurried out of her bedroom and then came back with two plush white towels. She handed them to Chat, letting him dry himself before bringing them away again. 

Chat smiled at her, as she beckoned for him to sit in the desk chair while she climbed on top of her bed. "What the heck are you doing here, Chat? It's past eleven. For all you'd know, I could have been asleep." 

"I told you I'd be sure we'd see each other again. Besides, it's a Friday night, I took the gamble that you didn't have to be up early for work in the morning and therefore you didn't need to be in bed. I'd say it was a pretty great gamble." He swiveled the chair toward the bed, leaning towards her and grinning. 

She scoffed, "You have to have more of a reason than that." 

He immediately grew serious, "Marinette, I wanted to see you again. Badly." 

Her cheeks grew red and she looked down, attempting to hide it from him and failing, "You save plenty of people's lives, Chat Noir. I'm simply another one of the hundreds you've helped over the years." 

"No, you're way more than that to me. Of course, I'm glad that I saved your life but I don't feel the same way about you as I do all those other people." Where was this coming from? It seemed he couldn't control himself, which made sense in a way, Adrien often controlled himself in his own life and then when it came to his emotions and feelings. Whereas he let them go free as Chat Noir. 

Marinette scooted a bit closer, leaning forward until her chin was propped up by her hands. "How so?" 

Chat wished he could shut himself up, but he found his mouth flying open anyway, "Meeting you again, it was like a spark finally went off in a span of darkness that's lasted years. You're electric, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." 

"Well, don't let yourself get shocked, kitty." Her tone was teasing, but he sensed an underlying tone of seriousness, as though warning him not to get involved with her. 

But he wasn't going down without a fight, "I don't think getting shocked by you would be the worst thing in the world, in fact, I can think of few things better than getting shocked by you." Then, he got up from the chair and rolled it back to the desk. Instead, he took a seat next to Marinette on the bed. Their knees bumped against each other's and both turned to look at the other. 

"What're you trying to say, Chat?" Her tone was much softer now, losing all of the joking quality it had before. 

He swallowed, leaning closer to her until their faces were nearly inches apart. She intoxicated him, the bright blue of her eyes made her feel dizzy and her sweet smell of lilies and vanilla drove him wild. He didn't think that he could ever be close enough to her. He closed his eyes briefly, taking in a deep breath, before looking back up at her. Her eyes shone with curiosity and yearning, reflecting the way that he felt. "I'm trying to say that I like you, Marinette." 

She paused briefly, her hands gripping the duvet, "Chat, I don't think-" 

Breathlessly, he replied, "Don't think." 

With that, his lips met hers. Their bodies barreled towards each other's quickly, his chest pressing against her own and his hands pressed to the small of her back while around them, sparks exploded. At least, that's how it felt. Her lips were warm and soft, but the way she kissed him was anything but. She kissed him as though Paris was in the middle of a drought, and he was her only source of rain. Their lips danced in a swirl of kisses, and their bodies began to entwine. Marinette pushed Chat beneath her, before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him even closer to her. 

Their bodies molded together perfectly, as if he and Marinette were two halves of a beautiful whole. His hands explored her body, feeling the soft curves and caressing them gently. His hands treated her as though she was the most delicate porcelain, but his lips were fueled with so much passion that it seemed their kiss would burn down the city. 

He had never kissed someone like this, with such passion flowing between the two. Just as he began to truly lose himself in their exchange, Marinette breathlessly pulled away. "Chat." He met her eyes, concerned with what she was going to say. Marinette moved herself from him, sitting back in the position where they previously had been. "Actually," she moved then, sitting in the desk chair, "this way, we aren't taking any chances." She smiled and laughed softly, as Chat chuckled. 

"What's wrong, princess?" 

Marinette sighed and ran her fingers through her locks nervously, "I just want to be honest with you since you were so honest with me before." 

He prepared himself for the worst.

"I'm kind of still confused on the whole romance front, it's just, uh, been such an extremely long time since I've really dated. So, I don't really know if I'll be able to give you what you want anytime soon. I do have, um, feelings for you, I think. At least, that would explain why I'm stuttering right now. A habit which I was pretty sure I got over when I turned eighteen but I guess not." She laughed softly, finally allowing herself to visibly relax again. 

Hearing Marinette say that she had feelings for him, for Chat, was when Adrien realized that coming to Marinette's was a mistake. She hadn't been replying to Adrien for the past week because she was confused about her feelings for his alter ego, Chat. Marinette still wanted him, but she now seemed to have decided she was done trying for Adrien after so many years, and found something in Chat that she liked. 

He did his best to look as though nothing was on his mind when he returned Marinette's happy gaze, "That's okay. Take all the time you need, princess." 

"Thank you, Chat. Really." 

Adrien was beginning to realize that living a double life was even harder than he previously thought. 


	5. Riesling and Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette contemplates the intricate (and confusing) details of her love life after finally getting in touch with Adrien. The two finally go out together, confessions are made and feelings are made known. 
> 
> Alya and Nino are still confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A mix that I put together of my favorite artists and some songs that remind me of the love square which I've recently been listening to while writing. 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl4KjaqiRaM&list=PLG8oJGRv-FmwHFd6KR-hlhw98uMxIfH1y

_I'm free tomorrow after work, we could grab a bite to eat somewhere? You can decide where._

Marinette had finally replied to Adrien, after sitting herself down and repeatedly telling herself that there was no way Adrien was going to suddenly want to date Marinette. If three years went by of him ignoring her constant (and if she was being honest, ridiculously obvious) crushing on him, then it seemed unlikely that just because they were now older he would suddenly want to be with her. 

But wasn't that how she was feeling with Chat? 

As teenagers, she saw him only as her pun loving, ridiculously cheesy partner but she realized that she was looking past all of his wonderful qualities all of these years. She could admit that she was mostly blinded because of her love for Adrien. Once she started telling herself she didn't see Chat as more than a partner and friend, it seemed to stick. Until that fateful night a week ago, and then changed even further after his visit to her apartment last night.

Just thinking of Chat climbing into her bedroom and their then heated moments made Marinette's cheeks burn and sent butterflies to her stomach. Somehow, she'd managed to be honest with him as well. It seemed so easy to just be honest with Chat and tell him that she did have feelings for him, though she wasn't sure how she wanted to go about putting them into action. How had she managed three years of being silent around Adrien about her feelings when with Chat it took mere minutes? Maturing and growing up was a weird thing to go through, but Marinette couldn't deny how much she liked the confidence she found in herself upon growing older. Maybe growing up even meant looking for love in situations you previously wouldn't have given a second thought to. 

Maybe Adrien had found the same sensation to be true upon growing older.

Marinette could already feel a headache coming on thanks to all of these thoughts, the only thing she could do now was hope that the only thing Adrien wanted from her was a nice, clean friendship. But when Alya ran into her bedroom and began to speak a million miles a minute, Marinette wasn't very sure that was going to be what she got. 

"Nino said that Adrien is basically elated that you finally responded to him!" She drawled out  _finally_ as if trying to prove a point. Marinette knew that was exactly what she was trying to do. For the past week, the only thing that Alya would talk to Marinette about was her lack of response to Adrien. It was as though she were living with Sabine again, being lectured for her wrong doings. Alya seemed as though she wanted to strangle Marinette the whole week, not understanding her best friend's hesitation of going out with Adrien Agreste. Marinette could admit that maybe she hadn't handled the situation the right way, but she was glad she got to have another night with Chat to affirm that what she was feeling for him was real, before she went out with Adrien the following night. 

When Marinette looked at Alya, she could immediately tell that something was up. "I swear, Mari, if you stand that boy up because for some reason you're still confused about whether you want to be friends, or even something more, with Adrien Agreste, I will-" 

"Alya! I am not going to stand Adrien up! Geesh, a girl takes more than seven days to reply to someone and suddenly she's a villain." Marinette threw her head back in exasperation, she wished desperately that she could tell Alya what was happening. But how could she?

_"Yep, sorry. Just now realizing that I have feelings for the guy that I've been partners with for the past six years. Yeah, it's Chat Noir. Did I mention I'm Ladybug? Oh, and a little bit of me still likes Adrien but is worried it's been too long a break of us knowing each other for it to work. Mhm, I'm torn between a boy I never looked twice at before and a guy I was ridiculously in love with. And doesn't it make it even better that I'm leaning towards the one that's a superhero who I barely know anything about?"_

She was sure that would go over well. 

Alya sat down beside Marinette and tucked a piece of her dark hair behind her ear, "I'm sorry, Marinette. I know you're confused about all this since it's been so long ago that you've even known Adrien. I wasn't calling you a bad guy." 

"I know, I know that, I do." Marinette realized that part of her stress was that if Adrien had asked her out, she would have to say no. Before, she knew that the men she was rejecting didn't have real attachments to her. But this was Adrien, the same one that gave her his umbrella and nearly pleaded for her forgiveness and told Ladybug she had his mother's smile. Sweet, kind Adrien who she would do anything to make happy after he had gone through so much so far in his young life. But she wouldn't be able to give him herself, even if she tried, she knew it wouldn't be fair to him. 

Chat Noir had thrown her heart for a loop, an outcome that no one was expecting in the love story of Marinette Dupain-Cheng's life. 

"We're meeting tomorrow night for dinner," Marinette quipped. 

Alya nodded, hugging her best friend's side, "I know you'll figure it out, Mari." 

In retrospect, figuring it out was the easy part. Marinette knew the hardest parts were yet to come. 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

Never in a million years would Adrien have thought that his competition for winning the affections of the girl he wanted would be himself. It seemed to be a sick joke, really. 

He wanted to kick himself, this wouldn't have been a problem if he could have seen what was in front of him when he and Marinette were in high school together. If he would have realized that Marinette was an impossibly wonderful girl who he now wanted so badly, everything would be different. Maybe they would be married already, living together in an apartment suiting both of their tastes while he modeled everything she designed. After a while, she would get high enough in the fashion world to support Adrien's dream of being a physics teacher. He could stop modeling and teach, while she was ruling Paris's fashion game. They would have a black cat, an ode to Adrien being Chat Noir, which surely he would be allowed to talk to his wife about. 

Adrien's ideal vision of his future with Marinette tortured him even more. In a perfect world, where no consequences threatened him when making decisions, he would simply let her in on the secret that he was Chat. That the guy she was going to choose over Adrien, was still Adrien. 

But since that wasn't an option, Adrien was going to have to try his hardest to convince Marinette otherwise. He never usually cared about his appearance, but now when he looked into the mirror he saw himself as lacking everything he gained when becoming Chat Noir.

His hair was too perfect and his clothes were too clean cut. If Marinette liked Chat over Adrien, maybe it was the carefree aura and mysterious gear he had as his superhero alias. Adrien ran his hands through his hair before shaking it furiously, doing his best to get it to lay the way it did after a transformation. He looked back at himself, much more content with the now messy strands, and headed for his closet to find something that wasn't his stereotypical light colored shirt and blue jeans. 

He spotted something that he received from Chanel upon becoming their brand ambassador, but had immediately placed it towards the back of his closet. It wasn't Adrien's style, but it certainly was Chat's. 

The dark charcoal colored long sleeved tee he grabbed fit tightly across Adrien's taut, muscular chest. He then pulled on the Chanel ink colored leather jacket, which fit like a glove. He changed into a pair of dark denim jeans and tugged on a pair of black motorcycle boots that he had bought when thinking he was going to start riding a motorcycle. 

Upon looking in the mirror, Adrien barely recognized himself. Where he was previously all soft, light clothes that allowed him to move freely and breath easily, all of the dark, heavy clothing made him feeling completely different. More like Chat Noir than Adrien Agreste. More like the guy that Marinette had fallen for. 

Before he knew it, a text from Marinette caused his phone to buzz. 

_Just got off. Tell me where to meet you._

Adrien sent her the directions to Les Climats, an upscale restaurant where he knew the owner and could get a reservation at his beckon call. He picked up his phone and called the restaurant, asking for a table at six o'clock in the conservatory. It was one of his favorite places to have meetings with designers, the restaurant made wonderful food and had the best wine in all of Paris in its cellars, and the conservatory was breathtaking with a glass roof and huge bay windows that gave sight to the restaurant's secret garden. 

Even with his immense nervousness for the upcoming meeting with Marinette, he felt good about his choice of attire and restaurant. Adrien left his apartment and made his way to Les Climats, doing his best to look forward with optimism. He was allowed to be hopeful. It wasn't as though Marinette had told him as Chat that she was in love with him and was his forever. She said that she couldn't give him anything for sure, even though she had feelings for him. Maybe she had bigger feelings for Adrien, it didn't seem that far out of reach. 

Due to being lost in thought, the walk to the restaurant flew by. He walked in and was immediately recognized by the host, a man named Marc who was probably a few years older than Adrien and dressed in a sharp tuxedo, "Adrien Agreste! How wonderful to see you, and I see you have a reservation for two? Who, may I ask, is the lucky lady?" 

Adrien tried to be discrete but he figured the look on his face gave him away as he shrugged, "A girl I know from when I was teenager. No big deal." 

"Must be at least a bit of a deal if you've taken her here. Especially in the conservatory." Marc rose his eyebrows at Adrien, who smiled in return of the comment. "Anyway, you can follow Evelyn and she'll take you to your table. Your lady is already there, quite beautiful, that one. She's a lucky girl to have such fine dining company." 

"Oh no, Marc, I am a lucky man." Adrien waved politely to Marc as he followed the waitress who led him to the conservatory. Light flooded his senses as he entered the conservatory, it was an unseasonably warm day for early March so the windows were opened which allowed even more sunshine to stream into the conservatory. Blooms had began to spring in the secret garden, everything beginning to green and flowers igniting the garden with color. It was almost too beautiful to be true. 

Then, he saw Marinette alone at a corner table for two. He was nearly stunned at the sight of her, suddenly the garden was nothing compared to what he was seeing now. Marinette's jet black hair fell across her shoulders in loose curls, her bluebell eyes seemed to glow with the help of the sun, and her white blouse flowed around her body freely. She looked like an angel with the ray of sunshine focused right on their table, Adrien knew he was a goner right then and there. He knew he would do whatever it took to be with Marinette Dupain-Cheng. 

Suddenly, he felt silly in his dark clothes and shaggy hair. Adrien knew that this wasn't the real him, it was a part of him when he became Chat Noir but in his everyday life, he would never wear something like this. He turned to Evelyn, who luckily was still waiting for him to take his seat, and handed her his jacket. At least one part of the facade could be done away with. 

Then, walked towards Marinette. He placed a hand on her shoulder, watching her turn to greet him with a smile on her lips. Adrien greeted her, "Marinette, you look beautiful." Her smile grew, and Adrien wanted to bask in her light for the rest of his existence. 

He sat down across from her at the table, before asking Evelyn to bring them a few samples of the house wines. Marinette didn't complain, instead seeming very enthusiastic about the idea. She turned back to Adrien, narrowing her eyes at him, "Trying a new style? I don't think I've ever seen you wear so many dark colors." 

Adrien chuckled nonchalantly, "I just came back from a shoot with Chanel actually, didn't have too much time to change into my other clothes so I figured I'd give it a shot. What do you think?" 

"I like your style better, it suits you more." She was honest but right, and it was refreshing that she didn't even try to hide the truth from him to spare his feelings. She definitely worked in the fashion business. "This place is extraordinary, Adrien. I've never been before, but now I'm definitely glad that I have now." 

He nodded, looking around at the masterpiece that was the building, "It is quite the sight, they have exquisite wine and entrees, you won't be disappointed." 

Marinette's warmth radiated around her and seemed fill the room. She was so easy to be around, so easy to chat and catch up with. Their conversation flowed between each other freely, neither grasping or fumbling for words. Their waitress continued to bring different samples of wine and their entrees. They talked about everything, from their careers to their families to their classmates and where they were now. They even talked about how nonexistent both of their love lives were for the past several years. Marinette's cheeks had gone permanently pink thanks to the several glasses of wine in her body, and Adrien couldn't stop smiling at her in disbelief. She was real, so real despite their moment together two nights ago seeming so beyond dreamlike to Adrien. 

A giggle escaped her lips, "Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"I think you should stop with the wine while you're ahead, you're getting pretty giggly, Miss Dupain-Cheng." He laughed at her reaction, a large gasping intake of breath and a faux offended look in his direction. 

But she then giggled again. "Maybe you're right, but I'd love to sample the Riesling lastly." Their waitress removed the last glasses from the table, and upon hearing Marinette's request went back to the wine cellar. 

The two had been seated together for about two hours, the Eiffel Tower which was visible from their window began to sparkle for the first hour of the evening. Their plates were already cleared from the table and Adrien was ecstatic that Marinette had not made the slightest movement toward leaving, she had even ordered them another glass of wine. He could tell by the twinkle in her doe eyes, she was a couple of glasses away from being drunk. Adrien himself felt fine because with attending many label parties and fashion shows, wine had little affect on him anymore. 

Evelyn returned with two glasses of the Riesling, a white wine that was sweet and crisp. Marinette lifted her glass in the air towards Adrien, who followed her lead, "A toast," she began, "to renewed friendship." The glasses clinked and they put the wine to their lips and took drinks. "I'm glad we did this, Adrien." She told him, smiling kindly at him. "You deserve the best in the world, I hope someday you have everything you've ever wanted. You already have the best job, you're the freaking Chanel brand ambassador. You have Nino, the best friend. You just need the best girl, who I'm sure you'll find sooner rather than later."

Adrien knew if there was ever a time to be confident, it was now, "Maybe you're the best girl, Marinette." 

"Um," Marinette paused, breathing in deeply before speaking again. Adrien braced himself for whatever was going to come next, "I-I don't think I am. You deserve better than me, Adrien." 

He shook his head, "Not true. There is no better than you."

She nodded, "There is. I promise. I can't be what you need, I wish I could. I was dreading that you were going to say something like this tonight, that's why I waited so long to reply. I needed to figure out how I felt--how I feel, before I could meet with you." 

"How do you feel?" Adrien's voice was much softer now, losing all of the confident timbre it contained earlier. He knew how she felt, he just needed her affirmation. He needed to hear that she wanted Chat Noir, that for the first time in his life, Adrien was being looked over for Chat. He couldn't deny the irony of the matter. For so many years the girl sitting in front of him would have never chosen someone over him, but now she was picking someone over Adrien. If only she could know that the guy she was choosing was Adrien as well.

Marinette met his glance, "I have feelings for someone else. Believe me, I have feelings for you too. But these feelings for this other guy are all consuming, I can't stop thinking about him or wondering when I'm going to see him again. I feel the way around him that I used to feel around you when we were young. It's kind of like for a long time on the love front, I've just been sleep walking through it all. Going through the motions, never giving anyone the time of day. But he kind of ripped me out of it, pulled me back to the surface." She sighed and shook her head, "I'm so sorry, Adrien." 

"You don't have to apologize for your feelings, Marinette. We can be friends again, like we were back when we were young. Maybe I'll meet this guy you're talking about some day." Adrien didn't know how the rejection could hurt so much, even when he knew it was just the other half of him that Marinette wanted. He still got to be with her, if she truly wanted to be with Chat Noir. Adrien wouldn't hurt her just to make his relationship with Marinette simpler. He would be with her as Chat Noir if that was what she pleased, he would be with her in a different way than what he wanted. But did it really matter? The only thing that should have mattered was that they were going to be together, somehow, some way. 

But there could be no public outings, they couldn't attend fashion week together and sit in the front row, he couldn't meet her parents, she wouldn't get to truly know who it was under the mask. 

Yet when he looked at beautiful and sweet Marinette in front of him, he could no longer feel his regret of going back to her apartment two nights ago as Chat Noir. All he could feel was his growing love for the girl in front of him. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, these two are messes. I just want to cuddle Adrien and tell him it'll be alright and to stop messing with his hair.


	6. Timing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien speaks to Nino about his night with Marinette. Realizing nothing really got accomplished since Nino can't know he's Chat Noir, Adrien turns to Plagg who proves to be much more helpful than usual. 
> 
> Alya wants to shake Marinette for rejecting Adrien and does her best to find out why she did it. 
> 
> An akuma wrecks the first Marichat date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plagg is aware that Marinette is Ladybug, Tikki knows Adrien is Chat Noir as well. But the two kwamis are keen to the same secrecy that Adrien and Marinette are so they can't tell their holders what's really happening within their relationship. While Plagg finds this entire situation hilarious, Tikki is a little more concerned.

"So, heard Marinette rejected you." Adrien didn't even hear Nino walk into his apartment and go straight to his pantry. The first inkling that his best friend was there was the comment. Adrien was baffled, he had literally just gotten home from his night with Marinette. He could still taste the Riesling on his tongue, yet here Nino was, apparently knowing everything about what had just happened.

Adrien looked up at Nino, who pulled a croissant out of the pantry and put jam on it before shoving the entire thing in his mouth. "When did you hear that? Were you and Alya watching the entire date or something? Did you place mics on Marinette and me without us knowing?"

"Who do you peg me for, Dr. Evil? I do not have the time or money to spy on you and Marinette like that. Anyway, Alya was texting Marinette basically all night for details. I was surprised she even stayed out that late with you, dude. It felt like eternity until Alya finally got a response from Marinette. All she said was that you two were friends." Nino shrugged, still eating the croissant. "So you got friend-zoned."

Adrien, doing his best to remain calm about the situation did his best to seem as though it didn't bother him, "Being friend-zoned is not a bad thing. So what, I have another friend. A friend who I have missed dearly since high school, what can possibly be bad about that?"

"Are you shitting me? The fact that you're borderline obsessed with her, bro." Nino never feared to tell the truth to Adrien, which sometimes he appreciated, but right now he just kind of wanted Nino to tell him that maybe Marinette would come around.

But is that even what Adrien wanted? If Marinette had come around to him, that meant something about Chat Noir made her unhappy. He was sure that it would hurt just as much for Marinette to find something wrong with Chat as it would for her to do the same with Adrien. Both identities made himself whole. If he wasn't Chat, he wasn't completely himself. If he wasn't Adrien, he wasn't completely himself.

He knew that he'd gotten himself into quite the predicament but also knew that he couldn't talk to Nino about it.

Oh yeah, I'm actually Chat Noir. Yep, since I met you, I've been him. Sorry I never told you. Anyway, after I met Marinette again I saved her life as Chat. Then, she began to fall for Chat and not Adrien. Which seems very confusing considering I am both people. So she likes me, which you didn't know when making fun of me about being friend-zoned but we can't be together as Adrien and Marinette because she believes that Chat Noir is someone completely different. So basically, I don't know what the hell I am supposed to do about this situation. Care to shine some light?

Adrien could already picture Nino's slack jawed response to that conversation. Besides, he was sure if he ever told Nino his secret then the next day it would be all over the Ladyblog. Nino couldn't keep anything from Alya.

Nino, thanks to the lack of response from Adrien, slapped him on the shoulder and gave as motivational a speech as possible (at least if Nino was the one giving it), "Look dude, if Marinette doesn't realize that you're like one the top ten guys in the universe than that sucks. But don't automatically get all super emotional about because one, I'd prefer not to have your tear stains on my t-shirts and two, you could have any girl you want in this city. You could probably have have freaking Ladybug if you wanted! Anyway, just keep your head up. Maybe if you and Marinette become close enough friends again then she'll see that she really does still love you like she used to." He shrugged then and grabbed another croissant from the pantry and then left the apartment before Adrien could even thank him for the sentiment.

Adrien got up from the kitchen and headed into his bedroom. It was late, about quarter till midnight, and he could feel the day's events weighing heavily on his mind and body. Flopping onto his bed, he let out a groan. He could feel a small amount of weight placed upon his stomach and knew that Plagg was sitting atop of his holder. "You really are making an absolute mess out of this whole love thing." His kwami's voice was full of amusement, of course.

"Help. This has had to have happened to miraculous holders before me, right?" Adrien craned his neck so he was facing Plagg.

Plagg chuckled, "Oh yes, many before. You'd be surprised. Lots of times, though, it happens between whoever Chat is at the time and whoever Ladybug is at the time, which makes it even more confusing. Just be glad that your situation isn't like that. Trust me, adds a lot more drama into the mix." The kwami tittered even more, enjoying Adrien's mess quite a lot.

"I hate you. Is that all the more information you'll give me?"

With a sigh, Plagg laid across Adrien's torso, "What else do you want to know?"

"How the hell did the other Chat Noirs deal with it?" He questioned, beginning to think that he wasn't going to be able to do it at all.

Plagg spoke, "They had to be very careful about what they told the girl as each of their identities. Many of them would make mistakes and end up having to break things off with their loves because they would begin to catch onto the alternate identities. For the most part, you should be fine with Marinette as long as you don't slip up."

Adrien nodded, urging his kwami to keep speaking.

"It technically is okay if someone close to you accidentally finds out that you're Chat Noir. The rule is that a holder cannot tell or show someone purposefully, as in knowing that it will end up with their identity being revealed. If it's out of your control, say if you'd be in the middle of giving CPR to your dying girlfriend and I could no longer keep you transformed, then our master will allow it and you'll be able to remain Chat Noir. Lots of heroes in the past though didn't want their lovers being in danger thanks to them," Plagg shrugged, "and some didn't really care, all they wanted was to be with that person. So once the identity was found out, either they'd stay with them or leave them for their own safety. Once, a girl dumped a Chat Noir after finding out because she couldn't deal with the fact that he had been holding such a secret for the five years they were together."

He began to interject, "But she had to see that he wasn't allowed to tell-"

A shrug came from Plagg, "Human feelings are an odd thing, Adrien. They were together five years and the whole time he kept the secret, you can't even a little bit see where she could have been coming from? Sure, as Chat Noir you think that he was in the right but remember that this girl knew nothing of the way being a superhero worked. Maybe the lucky ones were the Ladybug and Chat Noir loves, at least Ladybug would at least be able to understand why the secret was kept from her as she was keeping the secret too."

"So I just have to remember what I talk to her about as each of my forms? What happens if we're together for a while? We're already twenty-one, what if she wants to marry me at some point in the future?" Adrien needed to know more, especially since he couldn't imagine ever ending what he was about to start with Marinette.

Plagg scoffed, "As if, someone wanting to marry you?" A glare from Adrien returned him back into his earlier serious advice, "You'd have to tell her no. I think your best chance is being with her as Chat for as long as she's willing to without really knowing your civilian identity. When Marinette wants to know, you'll have to give her an ultimatum. Y'know, either she lets go of wanting to know who you are along with the hope of ever marrying you or you two will have to end things. Best case scenario, while all of this is happening, you'll have grown close with her as Adrien and she'll begin to see the similarities and like you just as much as Chat. Then you could break things off with her as Chat and begin things with her as Adrien. But like I said, best case scenario."

All Adrien could feel was shock. Either, somehow someway, Marinette accidentally found out that Chat was actually Adrien or they'd have to end things while Adrien hoped desperately that Marinette would turn to Adrien for support and the two would then end up together.

Obviously the look of panic spread to his fact as Plagg quipped, "I probably should have warned you about going to her apartment as Chat whenever that was, but dang that camembert I was eating was really great. And how was I supposed to know you were going to physically assault the girl with your mouth?"

"Not funny, Plagg."

But a chuckle came from Plagg's lips anyway, "I thought it was." The kwami stretched and yawned, "Anyway, just remember to smart about all of this okay? It's my ass if I let you screw all of this up just for a girl."

"She's not just a girl, Plagg."

Plagg sighed and flitted away, very softly as though not wanting Adrien to hear, he spoke, "She never has been just a girl to you."

● ● ● ●

"I don't know if I can even handle talking to you about this right now, Mari. If it were any other guy, and it has been basically any other guy before, I would go along with this hardcore rejection. But this is our Adrien we're talking about! Adrien Agreste, our own personal freaking ball of sunshine! You rejected a ball of sunshine!" Alya had her arms crossed and was clearly not in the mood for Marinette's rejection of Adrien the previous night. 

Marinette sighed, "You don't understand-" 

"Are you gay?" Alya blurted. Marinette let out a huge laugh, thinking that Alya was joking. But when Alya did not begin to laugh with her, she put her hands up as if defending herself. 

She scoffed, "Alya, I am not gay! Not that there's anything wrong with being gay, in fact, maybe it'd be better if I were gay. I feel like I always have the worst luck with guys." 

Alya audibly gasped, "Marinette, what are you saying? Worst luck? Ball of sunshine Adrien Agreste wants to date you! How the hell is that bad luck? When Chat saved your life, did you hit your head? Did he let you go to sleep with a concussion? Are you going to be this damaged forever?" 

"Look, I don't really know how to talk to you about this because I don't even really know what's completely happening. But I'll at least give you a little bit more information so you don't kill me in my sleep the next time you see Adrien and remember that I rejected him." Cue Alya's eye roll. "There may potentially be another guy." 

The redhead flopped onto their bright patterned sofa, "You're kidding me." 

"I'm not kidding you. That's why I rejected Adrien, okay? It's not that I don't like him. I do, granted, so much time has passed that it's definitely not what my love for him used to be but it still exists. Feelings like that don't go away, I guess. But this other guy, it's like every time we touch there's a bolt of lightning. And you know how I used to act around Adrien? All stammery and awkward? I've always been comfortable with this other guy. I know you'd love him, and I'd love for you to meet him but I don't even really know what's happening between us and I don't want to say much else in case he doesn't think anything is." Marinette did her best to explain herself, and immediately felt lighter after telling Alya about her complex love life. 

Alya sighed, pulling Marinette onto the couch next to her until they were squished next to each other. "Wow, who would have thought, the one time you finally find a boy that you like, Adrien freaking Agreste walks in being the borderline perfect specimen that he is. You poor soul. Timing really is everything." 

"Tell me about it," Marinette groaned. She flipped over so the two's noses were touching and their eyes met, "You can tell Nino if you want. I told Adrien why I wasn't going to be able to go out with him again. He knows there's another guy." 

Alya looked at her with a bit of disappointment in her eyes, "I really can't know?" 

Marinette shook her head, "Not now. Not until I talk to him about what's happening between us. But you will get to know, okay? So please don't go all journalist on me and try to figure out on your own. It's just easier this way, even though you know I hate keeping secrets. It's the next closest thing to lying, and I hate lying." She also hated having to keep any more secrets from Alya than she had to, especially with the huge Ladybug secret that had been occurring for the past six years. 

 "I can live with that." Alya got up from the sofa and straightened out her clothes, "Alright, I'm off for the day. I'm spending my Sunday with my parents, who are going to be meeting Nino for the first time. Wish me some serious luck, girl." 

A laugh came from Marinette, "Good luck with that, hopefully he's embarrassing enough for it to be charming. When'll you be back?" 

Alya shrugged, "We're meeting them for lunch and then Nino and I will hang out at his place afterwards. It'll probably be decently late since for the first time in what feels like forever I don't have something I need to be working on for the paper." 

Marinette nodded, "I'll see you then, have fun!" 

● ● ● ●

Chat Noir flew through the bright sky of Paris in complete bliss, since he was on his way to see Marinette. Nino was meeting Alya's parents today and they were going to gone all day and probably all night. Ever since dinner the other night, he couldn't wait to see Marinette again. Even if at that particular dinner, Adrien was being rejected. But now, he was Chat Noir. The man that Marinette wanted, the man that she would be glad to see, want to see even. 

He was at Marinette's window in no time, as if she had read his mind (or maybe she was just aware of how nice of a day it was) the window was already propped open. He slid his way inside and landed gracefully in her bedroom. She wasn't in her room, but he could easily hear the soft playing of music coming from the rest of the apartment. The music led him to a mixed kitchen and living room area, the space was wide open with lots of mismatched furniture of different colorful patterns. Yet it all managed to come together extremely well, it was warm and inviting, it was so Marinette and Alya. 

"Chat!" Before he could even react, Marinette had thrown herself into his arms. He didn't even try to fight back his grin as he wrapped himself around her. The soft skin of her cheek pressed against his neck and her delicate fingers held onto his shoulders firmly. She pulled back sightly, clearly a bit embarrassed of her exuberant greeting. He wanted to tell her to never be embarrassed of doing such a thing again. The feeling that it gave him was incomparable to anything else, the happiness that lit up inside of him seemed to set his body on fire. 

He gazed at her, taking in the sight of just how beautiful she really was. Today she was dressed in a pair of light distressed jeans and a white tank top with a light grey cardigan over it. Her hair was back in her adorable double ponytails that he hadn't seen in so long. He loved the fact that he now got to know what Marinette wore on Sundays, when no one was expecting her to be anywhere or do anything. He got to know all kinds of things about Marinette now that she had made it prevalent that she wanted him. "You look ravishing," he twirled her pigtails playfully, "I like these. They remind me of when we were young." 

She smiled, "I do too. I don't wear them very often, not since I've had to look business chic every day for basically my entire existence. But Sundays are my only days off, and I like to remove myself from the fashion world as much as possible. And that means pigtails." 

"I, for one, would love to see you walk into a high profile event with that hairstyle though." He said, earning a laugh from Marinette. 

She replied, "Yeah, right. I'd never submit myself to that kind of embarrassment." 

"Somehow, you'd turn it into a huge trend. Everyone would walk around saying, 'There goes Marinette Dupain-Cheng, in the most stylish pair of pigtails that I have ever seen! She's a fashion icon!'. You really could, with the affect on people you have. You're too beautiful and too charming for your own good, princess." 

Marinette's cheeks turned a soft shade of pink and he put his hands up to her cheeks, caressing the warm skin gently as she gazed up at him. She opened her mouth to speak, to object to his statement but he wouldn't let her. He didn't want to hear her say that she didn't believe those things that he said about her. Instead he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers, immediately waiting for her to react. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she kissed him back softly. He couldn't imagine a kiss more different than their first. Where that one was all heat and passion, this one was filled with gentleness and sweetness. It was as though both felt as though what was happening was too good to be true, and they felt as though if they pushed too hard, the person in front of them would disappear. 

But he knew she was real, that this was finally real. That he finally got to be with Marinette. So he lifted her off the ground, guiding her to wrap her legs around his waist. He placed her onto the kitchen bar and stood before her, keeping their kiss in tact. Despite no longer being in air, she kept her legs tightly around his body, as though not wanting any bit of distance that didn't need to be there. He kissed her with all the fiber in his being, losing himself in the wonderfulness of the moment. As his teeth trailed softly across her bottom lip and he then pulled back just slightly, a tiny shudder of breath left her mouth before she pulled him fiercely back to her in an uncontrollable kiss. It was as though she was telling him that no, they were not yet done with this kiss. They could speak when the two of them both stopped feeling such an intense need to be closer than physically possible. 

"Help! Ladybug, Chat Noir! Help!" 

A groan escaped both of their lips at once, before he grumbled, "You've got to be kidding me." 

 

 


	7. Invitations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chat Noir kick akuma butt. Marinette and Chat finish their date which was previously interrupted. Adrien invites a special someone to a gala.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG
> 
> And it may be another week or so until I update again because I've got prom coming up this upcoming weekend and I've got a starring role in a musical the weekend after that which (unsurprisingly) takes a whole lotta time so I'm pretty darn busy. But I do try to keep this story a priority even if I am currently failing at that.
> 
> Also through long breaks like these, it really is your guys' comments that keep me going. When I read them, it really makes me want to update and makes me really happy inside so thank you to everyone who comments!

"I think these akumas are almost always released at the most inconvenient times," Marinette groaned to Tikki as soon as Chat Noir flew into the streets of Paris and out of her apartment. 

A giggle came from the Ladybug kwami, "Oh, Marinette. Look on the bright side, you still do technically get to be with Chat. Just as another person. But still!" 

"What if he gets back to the apartment before I do? He'll wonder where I went." The reply came from Marinette's mouth as Tikki just rolled her eyes at her holder but then gave her a reassuring glance. 

Tikki said, "I'm sure he'll have to detransform and let his kwami get some energy back. You'll beat him here with ease. Now, c'mon, we should really get going." 

"Tikki, transform me!" Marinette felt the sudden surge of energy as her suit appeared onto her body, clinging perfectly and making her feel unstoppable. She gripped her yo-yo and whipped into the city streets, keeping her eyes open for Chat, or the akuma. 

The city was bustling with people, as it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, which made it extremely hard to find the akuma. She, however, could easily follow the sound of panic coming from the square around the Louvre. Flying across Paris, her eyes laid on the akuma. The woman was dressed in intricate black and white supersuit with a pattern that Marinette had never seen before, and she was a professional fashion designer. As she got closer, she could tell that the pattern was a small font of endless words. With the smallest movements of her fingers, creating the motions of typing, words flew from midair. As the woman typed  _read,_ a huge novel appeared in the hand of most of the innocent bystanders. Suddenly, they were enraptured in the novel. Marinette watched in horror from a rooftop as an older man began to head towards the busy road. She gasped and flung towards him, only to see a flash of black before her eyes. Chat Noir. 

She watched as Chat put the old man on a bench, where he then continued to read. Before she knew it, Chat was right beside her. "So she's a troubled author from what I could gather. It must be her fifth novel that's been rejected by publishers. Anyway, now she calls herself the Typewriter and whatever words she types cause people to follow those actions." 

"Sounds like we've got to stop her then, before we have any more close scares like before." She replied, her yo-yo held tightly in her fist. "Let's go." 

The pair flew to the center of the action, where the Typewriter was endlessly typing  _read_ over and over again. When she looked up and saw Ladybug and Chat Noir, she began to change her story. "Oh no, not you two. You two are the reason no one appreciates a good story anymore! All anyone wants is more on Paris's stupid little super brats, Stinkbug and Fat Noir." 

"I'm beginning to see why none of her novels got published, she obviously has no idea how to use her adjectives. You do not smell, nor am I fat." Chat muttered, before running towards the Typewriter. He called back to Ladybug, "You figure out where the akuma is, I'll try to hold her off from controlling anymore people!" 

She nodded, watching him swing his baton towards the Typewriter. As their fight played out, her eyes searched hurriedly over anything that could possibly be used as an akuma that was currently on the Typewriter. All she could see was her suit, she didn't even really have a weapon since she used her hands. But then the gleam of metal in the sunlight struck her and her eyes found a flash drive in the belt of the Typewriter's suit. No doubt the flash drive that held all of the author's manuscripts. 

"Chat Noir, it's the flash drive!" He nodded at her, green eyes set ablaze by the idea of the chase. The Typewriter did her best but Chat had been a superhero for six years now, his fighting skills seemed to have improved every day. He was almost impossible to beat now. 

He continued to battle before yelling, "You won't be able to get close enough, use your Lucky Charm!" The two heroes met eyes and she nodded, doing as he instructed. Over the past few years, the partners had learned to give and take. Chat was a valuable strategist too, where it used to be only Ladybug calling the shots while he was a vital part of carrying it out, Chat now took control on his fair share of battles. 

"Lucky Charm!" From the air came a Sticky Hand, the type of toy kids would get for twenty-five centimes in a candy machine outside of a grocery store. She instantly knew how to use the red hand and thrust it through the air, hanging on to the opposite end. The Sticky Hand immediately caught onto the belt of the Typewriter and pulled the flash drive free and into the hands of Ladybug. She immediately dropped it onto the pavement, crushing it under her foot. The black butterfly flew out and she cleansed it, "Bye bye, pretty papillon," then throwing the Sticky Hand into the air to cleanse the city of what the Typewriter had done. "Miraculous Ladybug!" 

Chat walked up to her immediately, pounding her fist and smiling at her, "Good job today, m'lady. I'd love to stay and chat but I've got someone special waiting on me to finish saving Paris and since we're done here--" 

That's when it clicked in her head. He hadn't used his Cataclysm! His kwami still had plenty of energy to keep going as Chat Noir. She needed to distract him in some way to get back to her apartment and detransform before he could possibly see her. "Ah, who's the lucky lady?" 

"You probably won't know her." 

She pushed him to try for the distraction, "Try me!" 

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng." 

Doing her best to look as though he just mentioned an age old friend (and not her civilian alias), she replied, "Oh, Marinette! I adore her. She's really great. A while back, I was asked to model for the brand she was designing for. Of course, I had to say no because I couldn't ever reveal my identity but we got to talking and we became pretty close friends." Here came the distraction, "Oh look over there, I think that stand has calla-lilies! Those happen to be Mari's favorite flower." She elbowed him, raising her eyebrows and pointing to the flower stand across the square, "You could really impress her by showing up with her favorite flowers after just saving Paris." 

He smiled then shook his head, "Doesn't that seem a little bit like I'm trying too hard? Like, 'Oh look at me, I just saved Paris and now here's some of your favorite flowers! Feel free to swoon now'?" 

"No, no! It's more like you're apologizing for skipping out on whatever you two had planned. More like, 'Sorry that duty calls, but here's some of your favorite flowers to make it up to you'." 

Chat nodded, putting his hand on Ladybug's shoulder, "Thank you so much, m'lady!" He said, before almost strutting across the square towards the flower stand which had a bit of a line.

She breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out her yo-yo, flinging herself towards her apartment while Chat was distracted. She flew through the air faster than she thought possible and slid into the open window of her bedroom. She relaxed and allowed her kwami to come out of her miraculous, becoming just Marinette again. She went into her bathroom, making sure that nothing was out of place. She righted her hair and fixed the bit of mascara that had smudged. Then, she went back into the main part of the apartment where she sat on the couch and positioned herself toward the bay window that looked out on Paris the same direction that her bedroom window did, so she could see Chat incoming.  

It took a bit of time, but within five minutes he was balancing on his baton and flying towards the apartment with a massive bouquet of various colored calla-lilies in hand. Marinette couldn't held but smiling, they were her favorite flowers and she loved how eager to please Chat had been when she told him as Ladybug that Marinette liked the flowers. She turned to see that Chat had silently made his way through her bedroom and back into the living area of the apartment, "Marinette! I'm sorry I had to run out on you like that, being a hero sometimes does that kinda stuff." She knew that much more than he thought she did. "Anyways, I heard from Ladybug that these are your favorites. I happen to really like them too so I picked 'em up, as a bit of a sorry for ditching you. Or maybe more like a thank you for even wanting me here in the first place." The bits of his cheeks that failed to hide behind the mask were tinged with a slight red and Marinette couldn't help but grin. 

After rising from the couch, she neared him and kissed his cheek where it had gone red. "No, thank you." She began to take the flowers from him but he stopped her by setting them down lightly on the coffee table and pulling her into him, hugging her tightly. 

"Now that I have you, every time that there's a new akuma attack, I always hope to God that you aren't out and about. That you're in your office or here. That you couldn't possibly be the one who had gotten akumatized. I don't know what I'd do if that happened to you, if I had to fight you." He shook his head, the fight against the Typewriter had clearly distressed him about her safetly. If only he knew that she was just as safe as he was with her powers and abilities as Ladybug. But he couldn't. "I always just hope that you haven't had a bad day. That it couldn't be you. That you'd never let your emotions get the best of you so much as to falling prey to an akuma attack. Because I could never hurt you." He had pulled back slightly and his gloved hand caressed her cheek softly as she leaned her head into his palm. 

She smiled at him and met his concerned and scared gaze, "Nothing like that will happen to me. I'll always be happy. I have a great life; my parents are wonderful, my job is amazing, Alya is a spectacular best friend. Then there's you and whatever we are--" He opened his mouth to reply to that but she kept talking, "Which doesn't matter to me right now. We don't need a label because I know how I feel and I know that with you as an addition to all those great things I just listed, I could never fall prey to an attack. Never. Don't worry about it, mon chaton." 

Chat's eyes reflected the relief and comfort that she was hoping to give him, "Regardless, I'm glad that you're okay. I'll always be glad to see that you're okay." They leaned closer to each other, resting each other's forehead upon the other. They both allowed themselves to relax and be close to the other. Marinette could hear his strong and steady heartbeat pounding in his chest. 

Marinette pulled away, kissing him lightly and teasingly before sitting down in the living room. He quickly followed suit, sitting beside her on the couch. Chat pulled her into him, so their legs tangled and her head rested on his chest. She grew comfortable and did her best to enjoy the moment, until she started to think. She hated when she thought too much. This time, she was contemplating how she and Chat could possibly have a real future together. Marinette had always thought of the complex way her life would go when she would eventually meet someone and fall in love, having to keep from him the huge secret of her being Ladybug and those details about her life. But now she was falling for Chat, which made it twice as seemingly impossible. He couldn't know that she was Ladybug and she couldn't know anything about Chat's civilian alias. 

Her yearning to know everything about him was unreal. She wanted to know what he did for a living, where he lived in Paris, if he had any pets. She wanted to be able to go to each other's family's houses for holidays and show each other off to the aunts and uncles who constantly asked about significant others. Marinette sighed, growing more and more perplexed with the situation as she continued to focus on it. 

"What's wrong, princess?" Chat asked, taking her thin hand in his and running his thumb along her palm. 

She nuzzled into him even more, not really wanting to have the upcoming conversation, "It sucks that I don't get to know anything about you. Like, it really freaking sucks." 

He made a sound of discontent before kissing the top of her head, attempting to reassure you, "You do get to know things about me. We just can't focus on the huge things. You'll just get to know the things that not even my closest friends know about me. Like, hm let's see, like my favorite foreign city!" 

Despite her sulkiness, Marinette couldn't help but laugh at Chat's exuberance, "What's your favorite foreign city?" 

"I'd have to say either Tokyo or London. Hard to decide, they both bring a lot of different things to the table. I'm sure you'll be able to go to both some day, or you'll just spend time in all of the cities that have fashion weeks since you're going to be a famed fashion designer." He quipped. 

She laughed, shaking her head at his latter comment. "Okay, I'll keep asking you questions and--" 

Chat's miraculous cut her off. It beeped, signally that he had only five minutes until his transformation would disappear. She moved away from him, allowing him to move as she knew he was going to have to be leaving. He wore a face of huge discontent. "I'm so sorry, Marinette. I'll make it up to you, okay? We'll spend an entire afternoon asking each other questions like that. You'll know more little things about me than anyone in my life. I promise." 

Marinette nodded, "That sounds reasonable. You should get going now though, we don't wanna take any chances." 

"I know. But, before I go..." His lips found hers and she folded against him, her chest pressed against his and her arms placed around his neck. Time seemed to freeze while they kissed, and they spent three of the four minutes Chat's transformation had left enveloped in each other's arms. 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

Adrien arrived back to his apartment, tired and ready to fall into his bed. Tomorrow was Monday and he knew that he had a crazy week ahead due to all the new appointments and sessions with Chanel and other brands he was still modeling for. But for tonight, he could relax and regain the energy that he had lost due to the akuma from earlier in the day. 

He set his keys onto his counter top, along with the mail he had brought up from his box in the lobby. There multiple different envelopes, most being various bills. He got some magazines, which he (to his dismay) was on the cover of. The only other piece of mail that wasn't either promotional or bill-related was a thick envelope that had his name written on it in intricate calligraphy. 

Due to wanting to keep the pristine envelope as nice as possible, he opened it very carefully. Adrien pulled out what was inside and read from the piece of paper that he had placed his hand on first. 

_You are hereby invited to the annual Coco Chanel Spring Gala. Join us to celebrate in the oncoming events of fashion week and our new fall lines. The gala will begin promptly at eight o'clock on March the twenty-third. Attire is black tie formal. RSVP is required. Enclosed is two tickets, one for Mr. Adrien Agreste and the other for a plus one. Please do everyone at Chanel and everyone in the fashion world a wonderful night with your attendance._

Sure enough, two golden tickets were the next thing he found. He didn't even really need to think about who he would take. After all, he wanted Marinette to be able to wear the dress that she had almost gotten killed designing. The beautiful wine colored gown with gold detailing that she had shown him with such pride that night a few weeks ago. He could still remember her words: 

_"It's not like I'll ever be invited to an event extravagant enough for me to ever wear it..."_

But she would. Adrien would take Marinette as his date so she could make the dress and chat with fashion professionals and make it as far as what she deserved in her life. He would specify that it was only as friends, since she probably wouldn't do it otherwise. Unfortunately, Adrien knew that now Marinette was going to start being very loyal to Chat. It was both wonderful and painful to see how much she was falling for Adrien as Chat Noir. 

It didn't matter though, it he wasn't going to get what he wanted from inviting her to this gala. The best feeling in the world would be making Marinette happy. Making the girl who Adrien was very nearly falling in love with happy. 

Adrien pulled out a blank envelope and piece of paper and began to scribble down onto the sheet.  _Got invited to a gala hosted by Chanel, and they sent a ticket for a plus one. Figured you could use this as an opportunity to get further in the fashion world than Forever 21. Of course, we'll be going to celebrate our new found friendship. Just text or call me if you can go or not so I can RSVP._

He knew that this date with Marinette to the gala was only going mean something to her as a testament to her new friendship with Adrien. He knew that's how he needed to view it as well. But of course, he could already feel himself getting his hopes up as he signed her name on the front of the envelope. It was like he was using special care with the pen, wanting her name to appear as beautifully as possible. 

_**Marinette Dupain-Cheng** _


	8. Casablanca Lilies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette accepts Adrien's invitation to the Chanel Gala, and then feels the need to awkwardly explain herself to her kind-of boyfriend. Adrien doubles his phone bill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEARING WITH ME, GUYS. I have a pretty empty May so the updates will start being much more frequent than they have been for the last couple of chapters. 
> 
> This chapter was written listening to a mix of John Mayer, the 1975, Troye Sivan, SOAK, Lorde, Ben Howard, Halsey, One Direction, and the Weepies. I'll link the playlist below from my Spotify if any of you guys are curious: 
> 
> https://play.spotify.com/user/1236465916/playlist/4FeEMFUpBIijI0MJf9Ltua

When the invitation arrived at the apartment, Marinette was floored. She could already picture herself in the same ballroom that Coco Chanel had once hosted the very gala which she would be attending. There were rumors around the office that Donatella Versace was coming from Milan to attend the gala for the first time in years. The same gala that Adrien had invited Marinette to. 

She hadn't even considered declining his offer, it had never crossed her mind. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. There was no existence for Marinette where she turned this invitation down, it would mean practically throwing away a huge shot at bettering her future.

And going to a gala with her high school crush. 

Not that that small detail gave her any more motivation to go. Adrien was now officially her friend again, after their long hiatus of knowing each other. Besides, she had Chat Noir, which was enough to make her stomach flip. Chat Noir, her kinda sorta boyfriend, her crime fighting partner. The beautiful boy who had been by her side through everything. In a life where everything was changing and shifting, Chat was her constant. 

Which was why the new feeling in her stomach was guilt. Was she allowed to attend a gala as someone's  _date?_ Marinette would totally understand if she were in Chat's position, but she'd probably be jealous as well. Though just a few months ago the thought of making Chat Noir jealous would have made her laugh, now she felt incredibly guilty. The Chanel Gala would be heavily photographed, her picture would be posted throughout all kinds of fashion and gossip magazines. Not just her in said picture, her clinging to Adrien Agreste's arm while walking a red carpet. 

Marinette needed to sit down. 

Luckily, Alya had to work late tonight, at some kind of press conference for the mayor, so Marinette had the apartment to herself to think the situation over. Did she desperately want to go to this gala? Yes. Did she want to spend more time with Adrien? Yes. There shouldn't have been a problem except for the fact that she couldn't get over the idea of hurting Chat's feelings.

However despite all the guilt fluttering around her stomach, Marinette knew she was going to accept the invitation. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if she didn't, it was practically career sabotage to not go. So she picked up her phone and texted Adrien. 

_I'd love to go to the gala with you. Thanks for inviting me! Text me more information once you find out about dress code, where we'll meet up, etc._

But now, she had to talk to Chat about it. Marinette stood up and grabbed her purse and headed for the door, knowing exactly where to look for him.

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

Adrien hated Mondays. It always seemed as though his worst shoots were on the first day of the week. Designers and photographers were typically exhausted from a weekend of publicity stunts and partying, which left them treating the models with very little respect. As if Adrien wasn't tired from the weekend. If only the asshole photographer that yelled at him for being too pretty knew that the only reason he hadn't been killed by some kind of evil force was because of the too pretty model in front of him. 

As if his day didn't feel long enough, tonight was his patrol night. Years ago, he and Ladybug had began to take every other night for patrolling, the situation had never changed and Adrien absolutely dreaded any time that Monday fell under his control. At least today he had time to actually take off the makeup that the crew had smothered him with earlier in the day. 

He glided carefully from roof to roof in Paris, checking his phone periodically to see if it was nearing when his patrol time ended. Around eight pm, a text appeared on his phone screen: 

_I'd love to go to the gala with you. Thanks for inviting me! Text me more information once you find out about dress code, where we'll meet up, etc._

Smiling to himself, he placed the phone back in his pocket. He figured that he could give her the information when he got back to his apartment so he didn't bother trying to respond to her now. But he did feel ridiculously elated by her acceptance, she even seemed a bit excited. Adrien allowed himself to take a break, he flipped down to the pavement below and walked a few minutes before reaching the Luxembourg Gardens. The flowers were just beginning to bloom since it was finally reaching April, and he loved seeing the gardens at night. 

His mother had always taken him to the gardens after the sun set, explaining to him that some people didn't look hard enough to find beauty in the garden at night. She showed him the moon flowers, evening primroses, and the casablanca lilies that would only bloom in the night time. She'd always tell him that people who only visited Luxembourg Gardens in the daytime were missing out on the true beauty of the landscape. 

He strolled through the gardens then took a seat next to the just-blooming casablanca lilies. 

The gardens were empty, all the tourists having moved on to a late night boat ride in the Seine to see the Eiffel Tower and all the natives resting peacefully in their apartments for the following work day. The dim light of street lamps illuminated the area just barely, keeping most of it in the dark. The rest of Paris around the gardens glowed magnificently.

For the first time in the day, Adrien allowed himself to relax. His black leather clothed body stretched out across the bench and he closed his eyes, breathing in the fragrant smell of all the flowers around him. If he focused hard enough, he could hear his mother's voice describing each flower to him.

"Mon chaton," a beautiful voice came from the darkness, and before opening his eyes Adrien already knew that it was her. Marinette. "I have a feeling you're supposed to be doing something else besides napping in the gardens."

He smiled, opening his eyes and standing up to greet her. She stood in front of him, dressed in jeans and a black tee with a light denim jacket on top. Her pink stilettos made her closer to his height, but she was still a good five inches shorter than him. Her hair fell loosely into her eyes, the messy bun on top of her head clearly failing to keep all of the pieces in check. "Princess," He held her hand and kissed it softly, "stalking me, are you?"  

"You wish." She replied, an air of carefree confidence that Adrien had never seen from her in high school. Marinette Dupain-Cheng really was something else. "I actually was out walking, hoping that I'd potentially run into you so I could talk to you about something." 

He raised his eyebrows, curious about what she had to speak to Chat Noir about. It was odd for Adrien, having only one of his aliases in some kind of relationship. He wondered if all miraculous holders had to deal with the same problems, or if they refrained from dating until they could be done with their secret double life. If only he could be honest with her and tell her that the boy she thought she was currently dating, was also the boy who asked to be his date to--

"It's about this gala that I got invited to." Fuck. 

He didn't think about what her reaction was going to be to being invited to the gala. He hadn't even thought about the fact that to Marinette, Adrien was not the boy she was seeing and hanging out with, and making out with. To Marinette, Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir were two entirely separate people. 

"I didn't know since y'know, we haven't really defined what the two of us are to the other, if you'd be okay with me going to this gala with Adrien Agreste. He's just a friend, we went to high school together, if you're wondering. It would just be super huge for my fashion career and--" Marinette spoke a mile a minute, a rosy pink tinting her cheeks as she grew flustered. 

He cut her off, "Of course you can, princess. As long as you're happy, I'm okay. Besides, it'd be shame if you never get to wear that dress that almost killed you." Adrien could perfectly remember the wine colored gown that Marinette was designing when he has swooped in as Chat Noir to save her life. The best thing that he had done in his entire life was keeping her alive. 

"Wow, that was easy." She breathed a sigh of relief, sitting down on the park bench and pulling him along with her. He wrapped his arm around her, easing her closer to him. 

It was allowed to be easy when she wasn't really going on a date with another guy. But maybe he was acting like it was too easy? "Of course I'll be a little jealous it won't be me on your arm, but you deserve this opportunity. Besides, it's not as though I can really escort you to a gala in this." He motioned to his Chat Noir getup. 

Marinette leaned her head on his shoulder, "If only." 

"Just make sure you don't fall for this Agreste guy. I've seen his face all over Paris, and I've heard that he's pretty cool. I'm just some leather clad cat." Talking to Marinette like this made him realize how much he actually appreciated the fact she chose Chat over Adrien. He had always been glanced over as Chat Noir, people were always asking about Ladybug. In his everyday life, everyone was obsessed with him as Adrien Agreste. Somehow, Marinette liked him as the carefree Chat Noir. "To be honest, I'm just surprised you even like me." 

A giggle came from Marinette's pink lips, "Honestly? Me too." He made a look of fake offense in her direction and she kissed his nose softly, "But I'm glad that I got to find out how much I really do like you, Chat. I mean it, you're special to me." Their eyes locked and he wrapped both of his arms around her, encompassing her body and embracing her tightly. Her arms wrapped around his waist, "You're the only guy I'm falling for, okay?" She spoke, after pulling away just slightly. Their foreheads touched and he nodded, then kissing her softly on the lips. 

The pair sat together quietly, both lost in the beauty of the gardens. "So what are you doing here?" Marinette pulled away just enough so the two could have a conversation. 

"Patrol, y'know," his lie began. 

She immediately saw through his words, "Yeah, because I'm sure there are so many akuma attacks on random weeknights in the Luxembourg Gardens." Her hand squeezed his and she met his eyes thoughtfully, "You know, you can be honest with me. You may not be able to tell me the little detail of who you really are, but you can talk to me. I'm just Marinette." 

 _Just Marinette,_ he thought,  _that was the understatement of the century._

Adrien sighed, focusing quickly on his surroundings and ensuring that no one else had entered the garden to see Chat Noir and a mystery girl on what looked like a midnight rendezvous. Fortunately, it was still only those two. "Mère used to take me here at night. All the tourists would be gone and père was usually in bed. I was supposed to be asleep. I think it started as something she did alone but then she couldn't keep it to herself anymore. Pèrerefused to go, he always had early morning meetings and needed his seven hours of sleep." He cleared his throat, "Anyway, Mère loved it because after sunset was when all of the night-blooming flowers' beauty was actually visible. She would teach me all of the different names and then take me back in the daylight to show me the difference, how they looked when the sun was out. It always amazed me as a kid, it was a bit like magic, y'know?" 

Her big blue eyes gazed at him in awe and a bit of pity, as if she knew the answer to the question she was about to ask next in a whisper, "Where is she now?" 

"Gone." 

Marinette held his hand tighter, "Well, the flowers haven't changed, they're all still here." She nudged him slightly, saving him from the depth of the grief that was about to overtake him, "Teach me." 

And so he did. The pair walked throughout the gardens, hand in hand. Flowers upon flowers, he named them and told her in what conditions they flourished in. After each flower, he'd ask her which one she liked the best. Someday, he'd get her a bouquet of whatever flowers she said she liked best and they would both remember their night in the gardens together. 

They finally made their way back to their original bench where the casablanca lilies were in bloom. A tiny gasp drew from Marinette's lips. "They're so beautiful." He immediately smiled.

"Casablanca lilies. They're still pretty small yet, by the end of summer, they'll be about four feet tall. I'd say that the gardeners just planted them a few weeks ago, the beginning of spring. That's when the lilies grow best. They like the sunshine, even though they only bloom at night." 

At the same time, two began to speak, "They're my favorite." 

Both stopped in their tracks and turned to each other, wonder filled glances exchanged. Adrien smiled and pulled Marinette close to him, whispering, "They were her favorite too." 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

"So you're telling me you want to add two phones to the plan? But you're the only person on the plan." The worker at the Orange store, where Adrien had his original two year plan for his cell phone, was looking at him with his jaw hanging wide open. 

Adrien nodded, "Yes. But I need two phones on the plan now. It's been two years since my last upgrade, I don't really know why you're arguing with me. Aren't you paid on commission?" 

"That's besides the point, I just want you to know how crazy this is!" The teenage boy in thick rimmed glasses and an Iron Man lanyard around his neck seemed stupefied. "Unless, aw man, you're totally one of those tools who get two different phones to text their two different girlfriends! Why should I ever be surprised? You are a model, after all." 

A laugh came from Adrien's lips at the idea of having two different girlfriends. He shook his head, kind of wishing he could explain the issue he had to the worker but he figured that wouldn't go over too well.  _Oh yeah, you know Paris's superhero, Chat Noir, I'm him. And, I know this girl who I'm kind of in love with as both of my identities. Adrien and Chat. So since she has my number as Adrien, I can't give her my phone number as Chat. But she wants my phone number as Chat. So therefore, I must have two separate numbers so I can text her as Chat Noir on my phone number that she doesn't have filed under Adrien Agreste._

"No, man, it's just hard keeping all of my personal calls and work calls separated. I'd prefer just to have a separate phone for each, especially since I can afford it now. So, is that alright?" 

The guy realized his mistake and began to apologize profusely, "Shit, I'm so sorry. I guess it just kind of got to me that my girlfriend has pictures of you on her phone as her lockscreen. Anyway, what kind of phones do you want? I'd suggest getting two of the same brand and model, just different colors to differentiate." 

He browsed through the store before seeing the phones next to each other that made perfect sense, dark grey for Chat Noir and gold for Adrien. "I'll have those two iPhone 7s. The space grey and the gold." 

"Which one of the phones do you want your previous data transferred onto?" The worker asked. 

Adrien replied, "The gold one, keep the grey one completely clean of any of my previous stuff. And could you put a black case on the grey one? Thanks." 

"Not a problem, this'll take no time at all." His words were true, within a few quick minutes of poking and downloading then neatly placing the grey iPhone into a slim and sleek black case, the worker had finished. "Need 'em boxed up?" 

He thought for a bit, before glancing down at his arm and seeing where Marinette had written her number last night before they parted ways. He fed her some line about being in between getting new phones so he couldn't give her his number last night, which was why his skin looked like an ink war zone. "Box up the gold phone, and give me the grey one, I've got someone to contact." 

The boy did as he was asked, and Adrien held his new phone in his hand. Chat Noir's phone. With the gold phone in a bag, and the other in his hand, Adrien left the store. He paused for a bit, opening the messages on the Chat Noir phone and constructing a new one to the number scribbled on his arm. 

_Hope you liked the surprise I left for you this morning, princess._

A smile appeared on his face upon thinking of the single casablanca lily that he had sneaked into Marinette's open window and onto her nightstand. All while she softly snored, quite adorably. 

_Of course I did, mon chaton._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate having to be so vague about Mama Agreste because nothing is canon about why she's gone (Dead? Left? NO ONE KNOWS) but if she comes back up I may just make my own theory, canon or not.


	9. Formal Wear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette works on her dress with little help from her leather clad cat boyfriend as the Chanel Gala approaches. Later that night, Chat Noir tests his limits. Adrien and Plagg have a serious discussion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM THE ABSOLUTE WORST I AM SO SORRY IT'S BEEN SO LONG, I have excuses but I doubt any of you want to hear them. It's mostly just been some sick writer's block and getting really into some severe Netflix binging this summer. I sincerely apologize, so hopefully this chapter will kinda make up for me being the worst. Hopefully I'm never this bad at updating again, or I'll let two years go by before I update in which case I SWEAR TO YOU I will update again

_**"Ow!"** _

Marinette turned to see Chat Noir, who was in the middle of climbing into her bedroom, place his leather clad hand onto the pile of safety pins that she had left opened up to reveal the actual pin. She tried her best not to laugh, but watching his masked eyes narrow as he pulled the extremely thin pins out of his gloves, it was impossible not to. 

She had texted him only five minutes earlier, telling him that Alya had gone out with Nino at the club and she was working on her dress for the Chanel Gala. If he wanted to join her, he could. It had been two weeks since the invitation from Adrien, and she was amazed at how far everything had come within fourteen short days. The gala was less than a week away, and her dress was nearly finished. She had all of the hard, laboring work over with. Now it was the finishing touches, making sure that her gown looked as though it belonged within the couture on the red carpet. 

Marinette gave her attention back to Chat, who was now staring at the gown with his mouth agape. She had forgotten how far the dress had come since he had been to the apartment only two days ago. Last night, Marinette had a huge caffeine high and wouldn't stop working. It was a good thing that today was Sunday, or she would have been completely wrecked without the extra hours of sleep in the middle of the day. "Wow. I saw the designs but, they're almost nothing compared to seeing it in person. The only reason I can believe you did this is because I've watched you worked on some of it. This is something you'd see walking down at an Elie Saab show!" 

"You know Elie Saab?" Marinette asked, her brows furrowed. Most girls she met didn't know Couture designers by names, let alone her superhero boyfriend. 

Chat coughed and looked up, "It must have been from that Ladybug and I had to save the Agreste family. That guy had all kinds of pictures of different designs and their designers in his office. That's the only place he would let me take him to so he'd be safe, everyone else was up in the Agreste kid's room but nope, not Gabriel. He's a special kind of asshole." 

A laugh came from Marinette and Chat breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief if Marinette didn't know any better. "A special kind of asshole, I like that term. But he's an extremely talented designer. Maybe he'll be at the gala. If I could meet anyone though, it'd be Elie Saab." 

Adrien wanted so badly to tell Marinette that he could easily find the guest list, and if he was smooth enough could potentially switch their seats to somewhere closer to the A-list designers. However, he was sure that Chanel would want to show off their new ambassador so it wasn't as though he and Marinette were going to be sitting at the kiddy table. Besides, with a gala as huge an event as this was, there was bound to be a designer everywhere they turned. 

Instead, he shrugged, "I'm sure you'll at least see him. I doubt someone would skip an event that I've already seen on like every newspaper this week." 

"Good point." She twirled around in her chair and stared at the gown on her mannequin which had the exact measurements of her own body. Everything was exactly how she wanted it so far, the construction of the bodice was detailed and precise. It would hug her torso perfectly and give her just the right amount of cleavage, all while keeping it immensely tasteful. She was going to the gala as someone's date, that was not the time to be anything but tasteful. The skirt made of chiffon and silk flowed perfectly out from the princess seam she placed at the waist line into a trumpet skirt. It wasn't incredibly groundbreaking until a closer look was taken, the beading on the entire skirt was impossibly intricate. Beading that matched the burgundy of the dress was aligned into repeating star bursts while the center of each burst was a larger gold bead, which created the illusion of the dress twinkling like the Eiffel whenever the fabric moved and shifted. The star bursts grew more and more as it neared the end of the dress, giving it an ombre effect. 

It was almost worth getting ran over to get the design of the dress down perfectly, and as she looked over at Chat who was gazing at her happily, she believed that the night was extremely worth it. 

Chat stretched out his leg and placed it on one of the wheels of the swivel chair, making it so Marinette rolled toward his spot on the bed. "So what do you even have left to do?" 

"I just have to make sure none of the beading's stitching is showing and then put in the string of silk in the back of the dress to act as the lace. Nothing major, it'll only take me a couple of hours." She shrugged and stood up, realizing how tired she actually was. Chat kicked the desk chair back to its spot under the window and pulled Marinette into his lap. "So you have some time for a different activity?" 

She yawned, "Is that activity sleep?" Marinette was obviously joking, despite how tired she was, it was as clear as ever just how attractive her boyfriend was. A smirk adorned his full pink lips and his greened eyes narrowed playfully. His grip on her stayed strong as he flipped her onto the bed so they laid side by side. 

"If that's what you want." Chat said, shrugging and turning the opposite way. Marinette laughed and turned him back over, shaking her head. She moved to straddle him, leaning down until impeccably close to kissing him. 

Marinette whispered, "You know that's not what I want." 

He closed the gap between them and kissed her ever so softly, which was clearly not what Marinette had been expecting. She nearly melted into the impossibly sweet kiss and allowed him to fold his arms around her while she tucked herself next to him. He pulled away slightly, resting his lips on her forehead and kissing her there. "The bags under your eyes tell me that my hardworking, extremely talented, beautiful girlfriend needs some rest. Not a heated hookup with some catboy." 

Her lips turned down into a pout, looking up at him with her big blue eyes, "You're no fun." 

"And you won't be any fun at work tomorrow unless you actually get some sleep, princess. The dress is almost finished and I'm here as long as you'll have me. Or until my disguise times out. Whichever comes first. So just go get ready for bed and I'll pick up everything so no one almost kills themselves on safety pins again." He spoke smoothly and calmly, and his voice already began the process of lulling her to sleep.

Marinette stood up and padded softly to the bathroom across the hall. The apartment was rather chilly tonight, probably from Alya leaving the window in her room open again, so Marinette opted for her long sleeved sleep shirt. It was an extremely soft pastel pink fabric that clung slightly to her body. She brushed her teeth and then pulled her loose locks into a messy top knot, then rinsing her face with water.

When she returned to her bedroom, Chat had picked everything up and put it neatly in its place. The only thing left on the floor of her bedroom was the mannequin which donned her gown. He was sat on her bed, in the process of taking off his boots. His gaze turned toward her and he smiled as they their eyes met. She smiled back at him, before turning the lights out and crawling into the bed. Her hand found his arm and eventually his hand, pulling him into the space beside her. 

They laid beside each other, and just as Adrien was about to say something, he noticed that Marinette's breath had grown heavier and heavier until it was obvious that she had already fallen asleep. He smiled softly to himself, amazed at how quickly she managed to do so. 

Before he could even manage another thought, his miraculous beeped. "Marinette." He spoke at a normal volume, waiting to see if it at all shook her. Her breathing remained just as it was moments earlier. She was really out. Adrien couldn't help himself. He wanted this intimate of a moment with her, with Marinette, as the man he truly was. 

A minute later his miraculous beeped again. 

And again. 

And again.

And again. 

Until finally, his appearance wore off and he was back in his jeans and grey v-neck. Until finally, he was Adrien again. He kept his arms wrapped around Marinette, allowing the closeness of them without his thick leather costume and black mask. He let his bare cheek brush against the nape of Marinette's neck and kissed her jawline as Adrien Agreste. As the boy who she used to be in love with, as the boy she was in love with under a different identity presently. As her friend who she thought nothing more of than a date to a gala. 

If only she knew. 

Eventually, he detached himself from Marinette and as quietly as possible got out of bed and went across the room to where Plagg was already sitting on the window sill. Adrien climbed out of the window and onto the fire escape, crouching down so he could see in to make sure Marinette was still sleeping. 

He waited silently as she stirred slightly, moving around in the bed and pulling the covers up closer to her but otherwise remaining completely asleep. He let out a breathe of relief and turned to Plagg, who was glaring at him. "Too close, kid. Never again will you pull that kinda crap."

Adrien nodded, but to him, it was worth it. 

 

 _ **●   ●   ●** _ _**●** _

Adrien knew that Plagg was extremely unhappy with him. It was quite evident from the way the kwami had completely avoided any talk or mockery of Adrien. Instead, he stayed silent and stoic. He flitted quietly alongside Adrien on their walk back to the apartment. As soon as they got back into the apartment, Adrien went straight to the fridge and arranged a cheese plate for his kwami. He walked over to the living room and placed it on the coffee table for Plagg to enjoy. Meanwhile, he was planning to go to bed before Plagg could talk to him any more. 

"Alright kid, sit down." Adrien looked at his kwami with disbelief but then realized that Plagg was being completely serious (for once) with an intense gaze that made Adrien extremely uncomfortable. Seeing his kwami angry was actually making him ridiculously uncomfortable. "Sit!" Adrien quickly obeyed, sitting on the sofa while Plagg chose to sit across from him on the coffee table. Adrien knew that Plagg was angry when he noticed that the kwami was completely ignoring the cheese plate to the right of him. 

Adrien took in a deep breath and began to explain himself, "It's just, the miraculous was timing out but, Plagg, you don't understand what it's like always having to leave her! Never being able to have a regular night with her or be who I really am. It's awful. It's one of the worst feelings in the world." 

"Then you should have never gotten involved with Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Chat Noir." Plagg spoke shortly, as though in a business meeting. 

Without worry of angering Plagg even more, Adrien spoke out again, "That's not fair! That wasn't an-" 

"Wasn't an option? You mean, you absolutely had to go to her apartment that night? You absolutely had to begin a relationship with her? You couldn't have avoided her at Chat Noir and then pursued her as Adrien Agreste. Wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. You could have. You should have. I didn't step in because it's not my place as a kwami to give relationship advice to a miraculous holder, but when you compromise me!" Plagg shook his head and looked back up at his holder, meeting his eyes, "You had another option." 

Adrien could feel tears threatening to spill but he quickly blinked them away. Instead, he clenched his fists. He stood up and with incredible might, punched the wall. His anger exploded around him and he turned back to Plagg, "No! No, I did not have another fucking option, Plagg! Marinette didn't want Adrien Agreste anymore! I was too stupid to realize what was there for me then, and now I'm stuck with the circumstances I'm in. She didn't love me anymore, just like père didn't love me after my mother was gone! I haven't had an ounce of love in this life for the longest time, since all those years ago when Marinette did love me! At least as Chat Noir, I know that Ladybug is my equal, my partner. We hold some kind of love for each other even if it isn't the kind I always wanted. But as Adrien? Who loves me as Adrien, Plagg?" 

The room was extremely quiet, you could have heard a pin drop. Adrien's anger had faded and he stood up, answering his own question softly, under his breath, "No one." 

He headed towards his bedroom, wanting the night to be over. A tear spilled from his eye, and it was quickly followed by many more. Adrien sat on the edge of his bed, head in his hands, letting sobs rake his body. He didn't even notice the slight weight added onto his left shoulder until he heard Plagg's familiar voice. "That's where you're wrong, kid. You are loved. One of the greatest loves is that of a kwami's for his holder." Plagg's leaned into Adrien and spoke again, "You're so wrong." 

Adrien sniffed and turned to look at Plagg, who had a sad look in his big green eyes. "I'm sorry for compromising you, Plagg." 

"It's okay. Master Fu doesn't have to know, no harm was done. She doesn't know a thing. You're still just Chat Noir to the world. Just please, don't do anything like this again and we'll never have to have another conversation like this. Okay?" By the look on Plagg's tired face, Adrien knew that the only thing the exhausted kwami wanted to hear was 'okay'. 

So he obeyed, "Okay. I promise." 

Without another word, Plagg got up from his spot on Adrien's shoulder and flitted back out into the flat. Adrien hoped he was eating the cheese. He stood up and peeled off his jeans and shirt, stripping down to just his boxer briefs and crawling into his bed. On his nightstand was both cell phones, Adrien surprised himself by picking up the gold one first. 

_Hey bro! What's the with AWOL act? Where are you? Alya and I are going out since I don't have to DJ tonight, you should totally come! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever, miss you dude._

_Thanks again for inviting me to the gala. My gown is almost completely finished which makes me even more excited! You're seriously the best._

_Adrien, I assume you'll be at the Chanel Gala this coming Friday? I hope to run into you since it's been so long since the last time we've talked. I miss having my son around, and so do the designers at the company._

They weren't much, and not a single one was declaring how much they loved Adrien within the texts. But reading each of them made him feel much less alone, and much more appreciated, and dare he say it, much more loved. All the while, Plagg's words were still resounding in his mind,  _"That's where you're wrong, kid. You are loved."_

That night, Adrien slept better than he had in weeks. 


End file.
